MIXED MARTIAL ARTS: Rousey to make MMA return after a decade to fight Carano

Former UFC champion Ronda Rousey is making her highly anticipated return to the cage after a decade away, facing fellow veteran Gina Carano in a blockbuster fight on May 16, Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) announced Tuesday. The fight will be streamed globally on Netflix at no additional cost.

The featherweight bout, set at 145 pounds, will take place at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and will be professionally sanctioned under the Unified Rules of MMA. The fight will feature five five-minute rounds inside a hexagon cage.

"Been waiting so long to announce this: Me and Gina Carano are gonna throw down in the biggest super fight in women's combat sport history!" said 39-year-old Rousey, who holds a 12-2 record, including nine submissions and three knockouts.

Rousey, a 2008 Olympics judo medallist and former WWE star, was the UFC's first female bantamweight champion and the first woman inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.

Carano, 43, shared that the fight came about after a personal request from Rousey, who was famously known as "Rowdy Ronda."

"Ronda came to me and said there is only one person she would make a comeback for, and it has been her dream to make this fight happen between us," Carano said. She holds a 7-1 record and earned the nickname "Face of Women's MMA" for helping popularize the sport.

"She thanked me for opening up doors for her in her career and was respectful in asking for this fight to happen," Carano added.

Both fighters have also made their mark in Hollywood, appearing in the Fast & Furious movie franchise and other projects. -Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris/Reuters