Gina Carano reveals Ronda Rousey is the first opponent she’s ever prepared a game plan for

Carano is widely viewed as one of the early trailblazers in women’s MMA, putting together a 7-1 record with stops in EliteXC and Strikeforce along the way.

Despite that, the 43-year-old says she never once fought with a real strategy in mind—even against someone like Cris Cyborg, her last opponent before stepping away from the sport.

Speaking on the JAXXON Podcast, Carano said: “Well, to be very honest, I was a bit crazy, a little out of my mind in my 20s. I was fighting out of a place of survival. I was fighting out of a place of—nobody ever really game-planned me for a fight.”

“Nobody ever sat me down and was like, ‘OK, this is your opponent, this is what you’re going to do.’ It was always me going and being like, ‘OK, get up from the bottom.’

“From the moment I started we’d go to smokers and you just show up and fight whoever’s in that gym. I remember showing up one time to a smoker and there was this dude. Very intimidating. Weighing in at 165 (pounds) and I was probably around 145 at that time… At smokers you just fight whoever’s there.

“But like no,” Carano continued. “Nobody ever planned me. We’re game planning now… It’s really cool to actually have a game plan for an actual person.”

Cyborg handed Carano her only loss—a first-round knockout—and that defeat also turned out to be her final appearance before moving on from MMA.

This time around though she looks determined not to leave anything to chance as she prepares alongside coach John Wood for what could be one last run under the lights.