Gina Carano's team is planning the unthinkable for her return against Ronda Rousey. Instead of avoiding the Olympian's strengths, her coach revealed a shocking game plan. They intend to take Rousey down and win with her own signature move.

Head coach of Syndicate MMA, John Wood, is training Gina Carano for her upcoming clash against Ronda Rousey on May 16, 2026, at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, CA.

Carano is back in the fight business after 17 years of Hiatus. Both the fighters are making a comeback. Carano appeared on the
JAXXON PODCAST along with her coach Wood, where he was asked to share some insights on Carano's training strategies.

"This wasn’t rushed. We’ve had about four months, maybe more, where we started with one phase—getting the body reacclimated—and then gradually added more while also removing certain things," Wood said.

"We brought in a lot of great people—Chris Brennan, Tyler Brennan, Lucas Brennan.High-level black belts and fighters now running our jiu-jitsu program at Syndicate."

While Carano has always been known for her striking, this camp appears to be heavily focused on expanding her grappling arsenal. According to Wood, the team is putting significant emphasis on Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and judo, an interesting strategic shift given her opponent.

During the conversation, former UFC champion Michael Bisping suggested what many fans are thinking: avoiding clinch situations against Rousey—an Olympic bronze medalist in judo—would be the obvious game plan.

But Wood's answer almost came as a shock.

“You are absolutely wrong. We’re going to go out there, take her down, and go for the armbar.”

This definitely sounds like Rousey's plan as it has often been seen she follows the same sequence, Whether this is a genuine tactical direction or a deliberate misdirection remains to be seen.

Gina Carano reveals real reason behind comeback

During the same conversation in the Jaxxon podcast, Gina Carano also revealed the ultimate reason for her to come back after 17 years.

"To know who I am, and especially the last five years after what happened in my career, I was like, oh I see it's like the Matrix, I feel like Neo, when he sees the Matrix.

I think once you are a fighter, it never leaves."

Carano is around 43 years old and Ronda around 39, it is a huge showdown for both the fighters, stepping inside the cage after so long, with all eyes on them and they full of cage rust.

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Written by

Proma Chatterjee

Edited by

Ashvinkumar Patil