Gina Carano fighting in the UFC may be one step closer to reality.
The women’s mixed martial arts pioneer says she is set to meet with UFC president Dana White next week to talk about potentially returning to MMA competition.
“I’m either going to do it now, or I’m going to retire and say, ‘OK, I’m never going to do it.’ So now is the moment, I feel,” Carano said Friday during an appearance on Arsenio Hall’s talk show.
Carano (7-1) hasn’t fought since a TKO loss to Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino in Strikeforce in August 2009, but she said she misses fighting and never stopped training.
“There’s not a workout I go through that I’m not fighting someone in my mind,” Carano said. “It’s never gone away…It’s something I can do that makes everything else disappear. I dream about it. I just didn’t know if I was ever going to get an opportunity to make a comeback.”
The 31-year-old is considered the first female MMA superstar and transitioned into a career in acting following her loss to Cyborg. She has starred in several movies, including the 2011 Steven Soderbergh film Haywire and 2013’s Fast & Furious 6.
UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, the current face of women’s MMA and arguably the biggest star in the UFC, has said she looked up to Carano and would even be willing to fight her at a catchweight. Rousey told reporters in March that fighting Carano “would be a real milestone for the sport.”
Carano is currently under contract with the UFC because she had one fight remaining on her Strikeforce deal when Zuffa purchased the defunct promotion in March 2011.
White has stated that he is open to Carano fighting in the UFC despite her five-year absence from the sport.