MMA continues to go mainstream as the New York Times takes a look at women’s MMA star Gina Carano:
In an interview at a diner near her home, Carano recounted the curiosity of a strict religious upbringing in Las Vegas. She was enrolled in a private school not far from the Strip. Celebrating Halloween was forbidden. Her family walked out of a screening of “Forrest Gump” because of the sinful language. Her sisters seemed so effortlessly thin and pretty, until the older one dragged the family through a crucible of the drug variety.Enrolled in psychology classes at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, Carano was 30 pounds too heavy, rudderless, half-lost to drinking and chatting up other girls’ boyfriends by the time a friend’s muay Thai instructor finally called her a mess. And the church of athletic redemption narratives found itself another lost soul.
“I’ve only answered to God, sometimes my family, sometimes not, and fighting,” Carano said. “No relationship, no boyfriend, girlfriend; it’s the only thing that has kept me focused.”
In time she was traveling the world, taking fights in Thailand and staving off concerned relatives. After a while she started making money. After a while she developed a sense of mission.