Kaitlin Young may have lost her fight to Gina Carano on EliteXC's debut show on CBS, CBS-EliteXC Saturday Night Fights, but she has nothing to be ashamed of. Once again, the women put on a fantastic show and again propelled women’s mixed martial arts to another level.Gina Carano, who is widely seen as the face of women's MMA, had struggled to make weight again. She weighed in four and a half pounds over the contracted weight due to her lack of time to train because of prior obligations with "American Gladiators". Even though she may have struggled to make the weight, Young expected Carano to be as tough as she was.
"I wasn't surprised," explained Young in a current interview with MMAWeekly Radio. "She's been fighting for a while. The girl clearly knows where she needs to be for a fight. I have a hard time believing that she wouldn't come prepared to fight. I felt that way beforehand, so I wasn't really surprised.”
The one thing that did surprise Young a little bit was the effectiveness of Gina Carano's front kick. "I was a little surprised. I think she had said after, that she had fought a Thai boxer too, a girl built exactly like me. The foot jab doesn't hurt necessarily, it's really frustrating. I would over commit and then she would set up her shot."
Young held her own in the fight and even stung Carano a few times with some stiff punches. Unfortunately for Young, it didn't seem to really affect Carano too badly.
"It didn't really surprise me," she commented. "I'm not really known for my hands. But she's a tough chick."
During the second round, Young's face seemed to swell pretty badly under her eye. However, that wasn't caused by a punch.
"I do remember getting elbowed. I think that's what did the majority of the damage," she said.
After the conclusion of the second round, the controversy began. The doctor had stopped the fight, much to Young's displeasure. While her face did look swollen, the swelling was located under the eye. Typically, in most fights, as long as the cut or swelling doesn't impair the vision of the fighter, they are allowed to go on. This is what caused the controversy in the fight. Young explained to MMAWeekly what happened in the corner.
"I've talked about this so much. The first doctor was going to okay me. I could see fine. I answered all of her questions fine. I was obviously coherent because I was arguing about the stoppage as soon as I heard it was stopped,” said Young.
"I continued to argue the whole way back even though the female doctor was checking my face. I was like 'I'm fine. Leave me alone.' I just want that to be over. I've said it before, I'd say it again. I don't think they should have stopped the fight. I don't think the stoppage was necessary."
Even though she may have lost the fight, the fans were extremely supportive of her efforts in the fight.
"I do hate dealing with a loss. You kind of put your heart and soul into it. It is hard to deal with. I think it was good for the people to see. The exposure was really good and the fans have been outstanding. They were all really cool and really supportive."
EliteXC has been one of the few organizations to really push their women's division since its inception. Even though Gina Carano has been the face they have been pushing, Kaitlin Young will return to fight under the EliteXC banner for at least two more fights.
"I'll be out there again. I signed a three-fight deal with them. Hopefully October or November."
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