By Mallory Mattingly
Netflix scored one of its biggest fight nights over the weekend.
For what was just a 17-second victory, over 17 million viewers tuned in to watch Ronda Rousey defeat Gina Carano in the first round, according to Deadline. In the United States, the fight averaged 9.3 million viewers, which spiked to 11.6 million when Rousey and Carano stepped into the octagon.
Rousey wasted no time as she immediately went after Carano. The two were on the mat within seconds. Carano tried to put Rousey in a guillotine choke, but Rousey escaped, and once she did, she knew she had to strike. The former UFC Champion put Carano in an armbar, and the fight was over just seconds after.
The two shook hands and embraced afterwards. Carano reflected on her career, saying, “Getting here after 17 years is a victory,” per Netflix.
Related: Gina Carano Confirms Episode of RUNNING WILD WITH BEAR GRYLLS Will Stream on Disney+
“This was one of the best rides of my life. I felt locked in fight night. No fear just focused positive adrenaline,” she added on Instagram after the night was over. “Love to my team.
“My heart is heavy, I wanted to throw, battle, win, but I kicked when I should have moved and was down and done. If I hadn’t tapped, she would’ve broken my arm, as it had begun to crackle,” Carano revealed. “The disappointment of losing like that is very humbling.”
Luckily, Jonny Jones and Cain Velasquez came up to her after the round to get her mindset right again.
“Jon said, ‘You haven’t fought in 17 years? Do you know how big your balls have to be to get back in there after that long? Did you set some sort of record or something? Respect!’ That’s exactly what I needed to hear from the best to ever to do it,” Carano expressed with a laughing emoji.
Rousey also took to social media to share how she felt about the match up.
“Me and Gina literally fought to fight each other. I kept hearing people say, ‘She’s not serious,’ ‘She can’t lose the weight,’ but I didn’t just want to come back to fight, I HAD to come back to fight HER,” she shared. “The story we could tell together was one I desperately needed to believe. That you’re never too lost to rise again, that your body is never too far gone to reclaim, and that it’s never too late to be better than you’ve ever been.”
The fight certainly drew numbers to Netflix.
“he event was up quite a bit from the 6M Live +1 viewers that the Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano rematch managed last summer. But, a few months later, Terence Crawford defeated Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez to the tune of 36.6M Live + same-day global viewers,” Deadline said.
Even though Carano didn’t end up winning, she is blessed for the opportunity to show the world what someone can do, 17 years after retirement.
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