Gina Carano

By FCF Staff

Holly Holm shocked the MMA world in November by taking out Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, but according to Gina Carano, she has long viewed the vaunted striker as a legitimate threat for the promotion’s bantamweight title.

Holm scored one of the biggest upsets in the sport’s history last month, by knocking out Rousey in the second round. Some believed Holm would pose challenges for Rousey, but not many people were predicting she would stop Rousey, and do so decisively.

Last year, Carano was exploring the possibility of returning to fighting, and the fighter turned actress had meetings with the UFC. Recently Carano spoke to FOX Sports.com, and she recalled the following exchange she had with UFC President Dana White in 2014.

“I did train with Holly a little in New Mexico. I remember talking to Dana White last year sometime in his office, he had the five top contenders in each weight class written on his office windows — male and female — and there were a couple names I couldn’t for the life of me figure out, why were not written down,” Carano said. “Holly is the only one I mentioned because I knew they were in talks of negotiating with her and after seeing how talented she was and the most incredible work ethic.

“I felt it was important to mention she is legit and should be up there. He laughed and blew it off mentioning something about her ground game but then again he did sign her not long after that so I think he knew. She seems like she deserved that in her life and career.”

To be fair to White, Holm was regarded as a top prospect at 135 when 2014 began, but she had yet to establish herself on the international stage. In fact, when Holm was tapped to fight Rousey initially, critics argued the former boxer shouldn’t be receiving a title shot and that the fight wouldn’t be competitive. White, however, repeatedly defended the promotion’s decision.