"The Face of Women's MMA" Gina Carano is almost officially set to get back into the cage, according to MMAFighting. After spending almost two years away from the sport pursuing an acting career, Carano had resumed training at Xtreme Couture for a few weeks, then switched over to Greg Jackson's camp in Albuquerque, NM. It's taken a while to find her an opponent, but it appears the search is over:
Gina Carano's opponent for her long-awaited return fight will be Sarah D'Alelio, a Washington-based fighter with a 4-1 record who goes by the nickname "The Monster."
Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed that both fighters have agreed to the bout, which will take place on June 18 in Dallas. Over the last week, D'Alelio's name had been rumored as a possibility, but sources tell MMA Fighting that it's now essentially a done deal, and that the matchup may be officially announced as early as next week.
Strikeforce had originally planned to match Carano up with Belgian fighter Cindy Dandois but it was recently discovered that Dandois is pregnant, which obviously ended any discussions. D'Alelio is certainly a different fighter than Dandois is, using more of a submission game as opposed to Dandois' strong striking. Carano had feasted on grapplers in the past before meeting Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in 2009 and getting finished late in the first round.
Her return to the cage will bring added interest to an already strong June 18th card in the American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX, joining the two Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix quarter-final matchups featuring Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers.