Gina Carano had kind words for a teammate despite his loss in his UFC debut.
Carano, a pioneer in women’s MMA, is gearing up for her first fight since being stopped by Cris Cyborg 17 years ago.
She’ll take on Ronda Rousey in the headline bout of Netflix’s first MMA event, scheduled for May 16. Carano has been working out for her return at Syndicate MMA over in Las Vegas.
One of the fighters helping her prepare is Lucas Brennan, who is also set to make his return to action this summer. Brennan faced Francis Marshall in his first UFC fight, and it didn’t go as planned. He stepped in on short notice and lost by unanimous decision, with all three judges giving every round to Marshall.
Even though he didn’t get the result he wanted, Carano still had a lot of positive things to say about her teammate. She praised him publicly after the fight and gave a strong endorsement.
Brennan dropped two straight fights before joining the UFC but made a quick turnaround. He took an opportunity that presented itself and answered the call with very little time to prepare.
The 25-year-old came up short against Francis Marshall but received nothing but praise from Gina Carano afterwards.
“Love your energy, my friend,” Carano captioned footage of Brennan on her Instagram story.
“Tough fight, and you have one tough chin. Solid debut against a solid opponent. Only up from here.”
After stepping away from the sport, Gina Carano found plenty of success in Hollywood.
The Mandalorian and Deadpool actor said she was convinced to come back by Ronda Rousey.
“Obviously, the motivation is that Ronda personally asked me. She was quite the charmer,” Carano said during a launch press conference last month.
“She asked me politely. She thanked me for so much. She inspired me. Other jobs kind of came up during this, but nothing was as important as this.”
“To share this moment with her and to be the one that she would come back for, she’s my one as well.”
“We get to live once, and this makes me feel so alive, so I’m just super grateful for the opportunity.”
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