Despite the fact that Gina Carano hasn't actually competed in a mixed martial arts (MMA) bout for over two and a half years, she's still in the headlines thanks to her work in the upcoming movie Haywire, a major motion picture directed by Steven Soderbergh and set for a Jan. 20 release.
She says she's unsure of her future after the movie comes out but she's had some more offers for film roles and, of course, there's always MMA to go back to if she so chooses.
Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker says he thinks that while Haywire will make her a star, she'll come back to fight again one day:
"This is going to be a great movie, this is going to do a lot for her career, and she's going to become a star. A real big film star from this and I think that she's going to get a lot of work from this film. ... I'm proud of her. She's come a long way and I think that it's going to be good for her. And I still believe that she will fight at some point in the future."
The landscape of women's MMA has changed greatly since Carano was last around. The emergence of Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate has provided a few fresh faces in the scene that weren't there a few years back.
But "Cyborg," Cristiane Santos, is still looming large. We'll see if that steals Carano's "conviction" to make her big return.
In the meantime, hear Coker talk some more about her upcoming film, which he seemed to greatly enjoy, as well as this weekend's (Jan. 7, 2012) "Rockhold vs. Jardine" event on Showtime after the jump.