Women's MMA superstar Carano wins tough fight

When the Kelly Kobold/Gina Carano matchup was announced there were many that accused EliteXC of “protecting” their star fighter by not rushing her into a matchup with Cyborg.  Those expressing that opinion clearly didn’t do their homework, as Kobold was a serious competitor.  Her only losses heading into the fight were to two of the top women in the sport, Julie Kedzie and Tara LaRosa.  LaRosa is considered by many to be the “pound for pound” best female fighter in the world.  Kobold had been out of action due to some personal problems (primarily a messy divorce) and contractual issues with BoDog Fight.   Notable among those who weren’t suggesting that Kobold was overmatched was Carano herself, and she knew full well that this fight had the potential to be the toughest of her career.

Kobold didn’t disappoint despite losing a unanimous decision verdict to Carano.  She dictated the pace and style of the fight for long stretches, but had difficulty taking Carano to the mat.  Ironically, she employed a style very similar to that of Randy Couture against the Xtreme Couture trained Carano as she attempted to keep the distance closed and maul Gina along the cage.  Though at a height and reach advantage to Carano and giving away a lot of technical striking expertise to the Muay Thai ‘diva’, Kobold impressed everyone with her powerful if somewhat wild striking and her ability to take a punch.  She may have been better served to use her striking success to set up takedowns rather than engage Carano in a slugfest but nevertheless she succeeded in giving the “face of women’s MMA” the fight of her career.

Credit should also go to the much maligned Carano, who has endured questions about her commitment to fighting as she tries to balance the myriad other opportunities that her mainstream popularity has afforded her.  She’s also been criticized for her difficulty making weight, but that’s more a function of her body type and the 140 pound weight limit not seeing ‘eye to eye’.  After the bout she suggested that 145 is a more realistic weight for her going forward.  Tonight Carano made a definitive statement about who she is as a fighter.  She ate a number of solid punches from Kobold and used her powerful legs to keep the fight standing.  Perhaps for the first time in her brief MMA career, she demonstrated her impressive Muay Thai inspired technical striking skills as she mixed up crisp punches with brutal knees in the clinch.  Near the end of the fight she unleashed a fusillade of kicks that would have made Cung Le proud.

Carano’s next bout will almost certainly be the long awaited collision with Brazilian Cristiane Cyborg, wife of MMA vet Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos.  Both women bring serious power to bear, though Carano may have the technical edge due to her Muay Thai background.  And with all due respect to Cyborg’s husband, who also serves as her trainer, Gina has access to the best in the business at Randy Couture’s Xtreme Couture gym in Las Vegas.