Gina Carano Sets May 16 Fight With Ronda Rousey at Intuit Dome
gina carano is preparing to fight Ronda Rousey at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles on May 16. The matchup comes after Carano settled her lawsuit with Disney in August, turning a legal reset into an MMA booking with direct stakes for her next chapter.
Rousey and Carano Reconnect
More than a decade ago, Carano first met Rousey in a hallway near an arena, when Rousey looked at her in big blue heels and said, “You’re not that big.” They did not cross paths again until the buildup for this fight, where they have already faced off at press conferences and in choreographed staredowns.
That long gap gives the booking a built-in narrative, but the real business fact is the date and the venue: May 16 at Intuit Dome. For Carano, it is a public return to combat sports after years of Hollywood fallout, and for Rousey it puts one of MMA’s biggest names back into a matchup built for attention.
Lucasfilm, August Settlement
In February 2021, Lucasfilm let Carano go after a series of social-media posts, including a Twitter bio that read “beep/bop/boop” and an Instagram post comparing the contemporary American climate for conservatives to that of Jews in Nazi Germany. Lucasfilm called the posts “abhorrent and unacceptable” and said they denigrated people “based on their cultural and religious identities.” The studio also scrapped the Rangers of the New Republic spinoff and wrote Cara Dune out.
Three years later, Carano sued the Walt Disney Company for wrongful termination with the backing of Elon Musk, then settled the case in August. Lucasfilm responded with a statement saying, “With this lawsuit concluded, we look forward to identifying opportunities to work together with Ms. Carano in the near future.” It also said, “Ms. Carano was always well respected by her directors, co-stars, and staff, and she worked hard to perfect her craft while treating her colleagues with kindness and respect.”
Most Valuable Promotions in MMA
The fight will mark the first move into MMA from Most Valuable Promotions, the company founded in 2021 by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian. That makes Carano’s bout more than a comeback headline; it is the promotion’s first test in a new lane, with a former actress-fighter and a former mixed martial artist carrying the promotion into a new market.
Carano joined The Mandalorian in 2019 as Cara Dune before her firing ended the role, so this booking is the clearest sign that her next public move is being made outside the studio system. If the fight lands, it gives her a visible platform after the settlement and keeps her name in circulation on a night that will be measured as much by attention as by punches.
