Gina Carano

Gina Joy Carano (born April 16, 1982) is an American actress and mixed martial artist. Competing in Elite Xtreme Combat and Strikeforce from 2006 to 2009, she compiled a 7–1 professional record. Her prominence led to her being dubbed the "face of women's MMA," a title she personally rejected. In 2009, she and Cris Cyborg made history as the first women to headline a major MMA event.

Carano was born in Dallas County, Texas, and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. The middle child of three sisters, she was raised by her mother, Dana Joy Cason, following her parents' divorce when Carano was seven; her father is casino executive and former professional football player Glenn Carano. She attended Trinity Christian High School in Las Vegas, where she led the girls' basketball team to a state championship while also playing volleyball and softball. She later studied psychology, attending the University of Nevada, Reno for one year and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for three years.

Carano began her combat sports career in Muay Thai after being introduced to the sport by her partner, professional fighter Kevin Ross. After compiling a 12–1–1 Muay Thai record, she transitioned to mixed martial arts, winning sanctioned bouts in World Extreme Fighting and World Pro Fighting. Fighting for Strikeforce and EliteXC, she earned victories over opponents including Elaina Maxwell, Julie Kedzie, Tonya Evinger, Kaitlin Young, and Kelly Kobold.

In August 2009, Carano fought Cyborg for the inaugural Strikeforce Women's Lightweight Championship, suffering her first professional defeat via first-round TKO. Following the fight, she retired from competition and remained inactive for years. In February 2026, it was announced that Carano would return to MMA under Most Valuable Promotions to face Ronda Rousey on May 16, 2026. She lost the bout via submission 17 seconds into the first round.

Carano transitioned to entertainment in the mid-2000s, appearing in the film Ring Girls (2005), the reality show Fight Girls (2007), American Gladiators as "Crush," and the video game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3. She made her feature film lead debut in Steven Soderbergh's action thriller Haywire (2011). She went on to appear in major film releases, including Fast & Furious 6 (2013), In the Blood (2014), Extraction (2015), and as Angel Dust in Deadpool (2016).

In 2018, Carano was cast as Cara Dune in the Disney+ Star Wars series The Mandalorian, portraying the character across its first two seasons from 2019 to 2020. Lucasfilm fired her from the series in 2021 following public controversy surrounding her social media posts, and she was subsequently dropped by her agency. In 2024, she filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Disney, which was settled the following year. Following her departure from Lucasfilm, she partnered with The Daily Wire to star in and produce the Western film Terror on the Prairie (2022), and was cast in the film My Son Hunter.