Gina Carano handled herself well on The Late, Late show with Craig Ferguson, even though she seemed extremely nervous and somewhat shy. I also didn’t think Ferguson did a great job with the interview, as most of it seemed to go along the lines of "Hey, you know how to fight, you could kick my (expletive deleted) ... and you're a girl!"

Carano’s been doing a fair amount of promotion for the EliteXC show this Saturday and what strikes me as odd is how she’s fighting the label of "the face of women’s MMA." In the news conference for Saturday’s event, Carano tried to downplay the label.

On the other end of the spectrum, hardcore MMA fans seem to think she insults the sport by failing to make weight a few times and generally consider her to be a joke. The truth of the matter, though, is that 90 percent of the people who know who Gina Carano is could care less about her making weight. They probably couldn’t even tell you what weight limit she fights at.
Perhaps she’s trying to downplay her “sexy image” in order to gain more respect as a fighter but she may as well cash in while she has the spotlight. Dana White doesn’t seem to be a fan of women’s MMA and he has absolute control over the legitimate aspects of this sport, so this may be Carano’s only chance to cash in.

No one could fault her for that, especially when she’s fighting on a card with the biggest fraud in the history of the sport (Kimbo Slice). She should be embracing the role of the face of women’s MMA and holding her hands out to grab as much cash as she can. She can’t make a considerable amount from fighting and she won’t have this type of a platform for much longer. She should be doing photo shoots, magazine covers and all of that while she has the chance.

And, she shouldn’t have to feel bad about being sexy. The LPGA and the WNBA have both given instructions to their athletes about how to look more appealing and being hot never hurt a female athlete's chances of garnering more attention. If you ask many casual sports fans to name their top five female athletes, I guarantee that list is 80 percent sexy.

I remember hearing EliteXC commentator (and fighter when he’s healthy) Frank Shamrock during a radio interview gushing about how hot Gina Carano is. There’s no question that her looks have helped broaden her appeal and CBS is trying to cash in on it and so should she. The money for her, like for most female athletes, is on a magazine cover and not in the ring.