Chael Sonnen picks Gina Carano’s next opponent: ‘That’s the only possible direction’ - MMA Fighting

Gina Carano should be setting up a fight with Holly Holm, or so says Chael Sonnen. This past weekend, Carano made her return to the cage after a 17-year layoff, losing to Ronda Rousey in just 17 seconds in the main event of MVP MMA 1. The quick loss and Carano’s seeming indifference to it led to some negative reactions from the MMA community, including from Sonnen. But on Thursday, Carano’s coach, John Wood, revealed that actually, Carano was “gutted” by the loss and was even contemplating another fight. And Sonnen thinks this is exactly the right way to play things. “This was very helpful. This was great that coach Wood came out and did this, because that was the part that was missing,” Sonnen on his podcast. “I don’t know if Gina can get another walk. I don’t know if she can get another contract. It would be tough, and you’d need a lot of really perfect things to happen to get Gina, particularly in a headlining role. But that’s what happened with the Ronda fight. “Nobody thought 240-pound, ex-fighter, 17 years removed, was going to get a headlining role, that sets records, that pays millions of dollars. Nobody thought , but everything lined up just right. So, it can be done, as long as the ingredient that she cares is part of this. And that’s why it was so helpful that coach Wood came out and said she’s gutted.” Whether or not Carano does care enough to attempt another fight remains a question. But if she does wish to have another crack at it, Sonnen believes this was the correct step to make that happen. “This is great, because when Gina got up and smiled, and talked about how wonderful this was, and how proud she was for this moment, how grateful, it does break the deal with the audience,” Sonnen said. “ … It literally could end her career that she got up and smiled and hugged it out, because now she’s letting everyone know, ‘I don’t care.’ And if you don’t care, then we can’t care. It’s not possible. … “Now what does she need? She needs to get back to the gym. Again, it’s just a story, guys. We don’t know if she didn’t care just because she looked like she didn’t. We don’t know if she’s gutted, just because her coach said she was. We don’t know if she’s back in the gym. It’s a story. But the story has to be told this way. If she truly cares and this is a passion of hers, she’d be back in the gym. … “Then, once you set the table in this way — she cares, she’s back, she’s in shape, she’s embarrassed, she’s coming back — then the fourth and final ingredient, which comes about a week from now, then you tell us the proposed opponent.” But who should that opponent be? A rematch with Rousey is off the table, but Sonnen thinks there’s one undeniable option: the woman who first defeated Rousey, Holly Holm. “Gina’s putting pieces, but the final one is who? And then you’ve got to sit back and react. I don’t know what the community is going to do to the idea of Gina vs. Holly Holm. I just know that’s the direction. That’s the only possible direction. So you’ve got to build it, you’ve got to set it out there, and the community is going to jump on it. They’re either going to like it, or they’re not. But that’s still the way the game is played.”