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WMMA pioneer Gina Carano was the first real face of the female side of mixed martial arts. Gina stormed the MMA world with her wicked good looks, charisma, and not to be overlooked her amazing fighting skill. Gina has been in the news a lot here the last couple of weeks, but not because of her in exploits inside the cage.

Carano is currently promoting her upcoming Hollywood feature film debut, which just so happens to be directed by multiple Academy Award winner, Steven Soderbergh. The visionary filmmaker offered the leading role in the film Haywire to Gina just four hours after their initial meeting, which took place after Carano’s bout with former Strikeforce 145 lb champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.

Haywire is already getting great reviews, which now poses the question as to when, if ever Gina Carano will make her return MMA. It’s a valid question, and one that has been on the minds of all fans since she lost to Santos, and took her long hiatus from action. But now, with ‘Cyborg’s‘ recent steroid controversy in combination with her being stripped of her title, one could only speculate that this could be just the door that opens, and allows Gina to step through to reclaim her standing as the top draw in WMMA.

In a recent interview with Gina, when the subject of her return to competition was raised, she simply stated that she was going to give back everything that this film project has given to her, and that it may be a couple of months before serious discussion of her returning to MMA would be addressed.

It’s been two and a half years since Carano fought Santos and while there has been an empty void in the world of WMMA without her, the prospects of her returning seem minimal at best. Strikeforce has all but killed the 145 pound women’s division now and let’s be honest; more opportunities are going to come up if the movie does well.

Picture courtesy on ESPN the Magazine