Doing things the Carano way

By Brett Okamoto

Friday, June 19, 2009 | midnight

In the earliest stages of mixed martial arts superstar Gina Carano's career, the former UNLV student took the time to seek out a female fighter who's example she could follow.

But while searching, Carano realized something — there wasn't one.

"When I first came into this sport, I was looking around for somebody that went before me and paved the way," Carano said. "I just didn't see it at the time. So I figured, OK, I'm going to do this how I would do it."

These days there is a paved path for female fighters and it lies directly behind the 27-year-old Carano. After a successful campaign through Muay Thai tournaments, Carano is a perfect 7-0 since her switch to mixed martial arts. The Las Vegas resident recently signed a multi-fight contract with the San Jose, Calif.-based Strikeforce.

On Aug. 15, Carano takes on the biggest fight of her career and certainly the biggest fight in women's MMA history when she faces Brazilian Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in what will be the first-ever Strikeforce women's 145-pound title bout.

"One day, I'm going to look back on it and be so proud because I know that women's MMA is going to do nothing but get bigger from here on out," Carano said. "It's such an honor. I don't feel any added pressure because it's a win-win situation. I can walk away from it knowing that I fought an amazing opponent and that I was fighting for a title. I've never been so excited for a fight."

Carano has a sizable task in front of her in Santos, who holds a 7-1 record. Santos is a bully of an opponent, known for dominating her opponents with sheer strength.

Another concern for Carano is that the fight is scheduled for five, five-minute rounds instead of the three, three-minute rounds women's MMA is usually fought at. Santos has had more experience in fighting longer rounds from prior fights in Brazil.

"My fights in Brazil were three five-minute rounds, so there is no change for me," said Santos through a translator on Thursday's media teleconference. "When I came to the states I was relieved that it was three-minute rounds. My training has not changed at all and I'm happy that women are finally getting the respect that they deserve."

Three-minute rounds were initially in place for fights featuring inexperienced fighters, but the rule somehow transitioned to women's fights.

The title bout between Carano and Santos could be a big step in changing that rule.

"Going forward, there's nothing set in stone that every athletic commission and all the states that sanction MMA are going to go for five-minute rounds," said Showtime Network's Chris DeBlasio. "But I think that's the goal, these women deserve to be fighting that way and want to be fighting that way."

Despite some of her opponent's advantages, Carano may carry the biggest ace up her sleeve in the form of UFC legend Randy Couture. Since meeting Couture before her first nationally televised fight in 2007, Carano has joined "The Natural's" Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas.

The former UFC heavyweight champion will be in Carano's corner during her fight at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

"He came into the locker room before one of my fights and said about two sentences and it screwed my head on straight," Carano said. "I was all wound up and he said, 'You know why we do this?' And I looked at him like, "No, why am I doing this?' And he said, 'Because we love it, right?' His presence and calmness took any anxiety I was feeling and turned it into passion. I was just ready to go since then."

One thing Carano hasn't needed much advice on is getting her image out. In addition to her accomplishments in the sport, Carano was named one of the "Top 10 Most Influential Women of 2008" in a Yahoo! online poll, was a central figure in a marketing campaign for the video game "Red Alert 3" and was ranked among Maxim's Hot 100 list.

But the former Rebel says she's still taken back by the attention she gets and has no problem staying grounded, a quality she says she received from her father, Glenn, who is a former UNLV and Dallas Cowboys quarterback.

"I don't understand why so much is made about my looks, there are a lot of beautiful girls out there," Carano said. "I've always been able to stay humble and grateful instead of the opposite, which I credit to my dad. He wasn't a huge fan of me fighting at first because he wanted me to get an education and I had to stop going to college because I was getting so many opportunities in fighting. But he's definitely one of my biggest supporters now."

As scary as it must have been for Carano to realize there was no pioneer ahead of her when it came to women's MMA, the sport should be grateful there wasn't. She's proved there's no one better to lead the competition to the next level.

"I'm honored to be a part of this sport, I think that it has changed my life in a lot of ways and redirected me," Carano said. "For this fight, it almost makes me choke up to say I'm fighting such a wonderful opponent. I hope I make everybody proud and I'm looking forward to all the great fights in the future."

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or brett.okamoto@lasvegassun.com.