Rumor: Carano to sign with Bellator

Last month rumors began circulating the Gina Carano was in negotiation to sign with the UFC. The rumors were later confirmed by UFC President Dana White and Carano herself. 

Since then there has been open discussion, but apparently some issues existed that needed to be worked out, likely with the studio in charge of her next movie.

So today the plot thickened. A new rumor surfaced that Carano would not be signing with the UFC, but instead with rival promotion Bellator:

Taken at face value the source of the rumor is a tweet from fighter manager / apparel owner. Digging a little deeper, it could actually make sense. Currently the UFC does not have a featherweight (145 lb.) division, which is were Carano fought her whole career. Bellator has no women’s divisions, but if they were to get into women’s MMA, starting a division the UFC doesn’t use makes a lot of sense. It was uncertain when Carano was negotiating with the UFC whether she would fight at a catch weight or at bantamweight against Ronda Rousey for her title. Further, Carano more than once struggled to make the 145 lb. weight limit during her career.

Another interesting thing to consider is that former Strikeforce President Scott Coker is now the President of Bellator. Scott Coker was the driving force behind the promotion of Gina Carano and the man who turned her into a star. On top of that Carano’s head coach during her fighting career was Randy Couture who has also worked with Bellator and has had a very public battle with former employer, the UFC, since he retired and left the organization.

Lastly, Bellator is rumored to have signed Marloes Coenen, which would make for the beginning of a great 145 lb division.

So this all could just be some silly rumor, but then again what if it’s true?