Gina Joy Carano was born 16 April, 1982 an Italian-American model, actress, and mixed martial arts fighter. Carano appeared as the Gladiator "Crush" on American Gladiators. She has been referred to as the "Face of Women in MMA." Carano was the former # 3-ranked 145-pound female boxer in the world according to the Unified Women's MMA ranking.
Carano started her career in the sport of Muay Thai. After achieving a Muay Thai record of 12-1-1. Carano received an offer to attend the first-ever sanctioned female MMA fight in Nevada. She was invited to the World Pro Fighting show in Las Vegas to fight Rosi Sexton.She fought on the 10th February 2007, Showtime EliteXC card, beat Julie Kedzie via unanimous decision in what was called "Fight of the Night." The battle was the first TV female fight on Showtime.
Carano defeated former Hook shooting champion Kaitlin Young on EliteXC: Primetime 31 May 2008. A day before the fight, Carano failed to make weight for her fight for a weight of 144.5 pounds (65.5 kg). Although most MMA organizations set weight classes at 135 (bantamweight) and 145 (feather weight) pounds (61.2 and 65.8 kg, respectively), EliteXC decided to create a women's weight class at 140 pounds. Carano agreed to lose 12.5% of her "show" purse to Young, and the game remained on board.
