17 years ago today – Gina Carano defeated Julie Kedzie, “Conviction” reflects
On this day, Feb. 10, 2007, former professional mixed martial artist Gina Carano defeated Julie Kedzie at Elite XC: Destiny at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi.
The bout was the first women’s MMA fight to air live on television.
Feb10.2007
11 years ago today,
Gina Carano & Julie Kedzie competed in the first Women’s MMA fight in history to air on live television pic.twitter.com/71kMtbOH28
— MMA History Today (@MMAHistoryToday) February 10, 2018
Now, 17 years later, “Conviction” Carano reflects on the importance of the bout that resulted in her getting the nod by way of unanimous decision.
“On Feb 10, 2007 I fought and won against Julie Kedzie on Showtime making it a ground breaking moment for women in the mixed martial arts,” Carano wrote on Instagram. “This is a fight I believe will go down in history as the fight that changed the game for female mma fighters, yes the Cyborg fight was groundbreaking as well but that wouldn’t have happened without this fight.
“There are women who paved the path to making this fight happen who I am grateful for, where people will never even know their names.
“Ground breakers are a tough breed. You start something you love and then everyone else comes up behind and it becomes trendy and those people reap the rewards the ground breakers wouldn’t have even dreamed possible because they were just doing it for the love of the sport or art or passion of what they began.
“Here’s to the groundbreakers, those are the stories I want to hear more about.
“Don’t let people squash your spirit just because they can’t see or feel your dream. Let them laugh and mock while you stay dedicated to what is in your heart. It’ll all work itself out in the end. Have faith.
“With love and respect. Keep fighting for what you believe. 🤍”
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Complete results from Elite XC: Destiny below:
Renzo Gracie def Frank Shamrock – Disqualificaton, 2:00 R2
Antônio Silva def Wesley Correira – KO/TKO, 3:49 R1
Joey Villasenor def David Loiseau – Unanimous Dec
Gina Carano def Julie Kedzie – Unanimous Dec
Charles Bennett def KJ Noons – KO/TKO, 3:43 R1
Riki Fukuda def Chris Gates – Sub, 1:18 R1
James Edson Berto def John Shackelford – KO/TKO, 2:27 R2
Javier Vazquez def Adriano Pereira – Split Dec
Mike Pyle def Ross Ebanez – Sub, 1:55 R1
Tim Persey def Bo Cantrell – KO/TKO, 1:33 R1
