Carano’s next opponent expected to be Kelly Kobald-Gavin
August 5, 2008 by Sam Caplan
The leading candidate to fight Gina Carano on Oct. 4 during CBS’ “Saturday Night Fights III” is Kelly Kobald-Gavin.
FiveOuncesOfPain.com learned of the news after speaking with EliteXC Vice President Jared Shaw earlier this afternoon. Mike Chiapetta of NBCSports.com was the first to break the news of a possible Carano vs. Kobald matchup this past weekend.
According to Shaw, the proposed Carano vs. Kobald-Gavin matchup has not been finalized but he expects to have signed agreements from both fighters within the coming days.
Kobald-Gavin is a respected striker in MMA and trains out of the Minnesota Martial Arts Academy with the likes of Kaitlin Young, Brock Larson, Nick Thompson, Sean Sherk, and Brock Lesnar. She has not fought since August 24, 2007 after losing a unanimous decision to Julie Kedzie during BodogFIGHT’s Vancouver tapings. Kobald-Gavin had actually just fought a little over a month earlier, submitting to a fourth round armbar by then-BogFIGHT Women’s Champion Tara LaRosa during a show staged in Trenton, N.J.
Carano has been idle since recording a second round TKO against Young during the first-ever telecast of “Saturday Night Fights” on May 31. The win improved Carano’s record to 5-0.
Many speculated following her impressive win against Shayna Baszler during “Saturday Night Fights II” on July 26 that Cris Cyborg would be next in line to fight Carano. Although it’s a matchup that EliteXC officials are looking to at some point in the future, the promotion think that now is not the right time.
“We are excited about Cris Cyborg following her recent victory on CBS,” said Shaw. “EliteXC is also excited about the possible Cyborg vs. Gina Carano matchup. However, we believe that Cyborg needs more time to get out there and brand herself. If both fighters can continue their winning ways, it’s a fight we expect to happen sometime in 2009.”
boooooooooooooooo-I guess you have to protect your investment but it wont be long before people realize Carano is being fed a cans and demand better comp…whats the difference, Carano cant even make weight.
‘Battle of the D-Cups’
You’re right Ross, but you have to remember that this is a business. EXC makes more money if they fight later. Also, they’ll pull in viewers anyway because Gina fans will watch regardless of whom she’s fighting.
You shouldn’t be so harsh. Carano only had a couple of weeks to train for the fight and she went out looking amazing. She has stated that there was no excuse for not making weight and she will get it for her next fight. A fight is a fight no matter who it is, and it has nothing to do with bra size. Women fighter’s deserve the same respect as men because they’re taking hits the same way.
Beauty against the Beast. Nice hair Hag.
Listen fireball,
I’m one of Gina’s biggest fans & I admit the ‘d-cup’ comment was a little out of line. But you have to admit that ratings for this fight will be huge primarily because of Gina’s physical attributes. Despite my chauvanistic words, I respect Gina as a fighter — she did look amazing, in more ways than one, during EXC’s 1st CBS card.
i dont know much about her but she looks like one of those 50s era pro wrestler chicks
She looks like Rosie the Riveteer from those WWII ads. What is her record?
Have you seen bodog fights? A lot of the women went down after 2 or 3 hits. They simply are not ready yet to stand and trade like the men of MMA, its not there mentally for some of them.
Kobald is hardly a can. She took Tara to a fourth round on short notice. That’s more impressive than anything Carano has done in her entire MMA career.
Its unfortunate that the Carano vs Cyborg matchup will probably be on PPV. Because i don’t see myself willing to scrap up the coin to see that event. That fight may well be the fight of the year.
Kaitlin Young was no can either. If you watch some of her previous fights on Youtube, she’s a badass. I think her big disadvantage against Gina was the size differential. Gina looked 20 lbs. heavier at fight time, when Kaitlin’s ideal fight weight is more like 125-130lbs.
Gina is a good fighter, but she’s really taking the heat for EliteXC pushing here out front so hard to promote their organization.
Nah, she looks more like Justin B’s mammy.
She hasn’t fought in a while so they’re hoping to give gina more credibility over someone with a lot of wins. And she trains out of Team Bison with the likes of Brett Rogers btw not MMAA (i hate that i know that).
Are you sure she is still with Team Bison? I know it says that in her Sherdog profile but I seem to remember a thread a couple of months ago where both Kaitlin Young and Kelly Kobald-Gavin posted in it and discussed about working out of the same gym?