Gina Carano's heart still lies with Xtreme Couture.
UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture, who at the end of this month faces Lyoto Machida at UFC 129, today told MMAjunkie.com that the women's MMA superstar isn't snubbing one gym for another in working with famed trainers Greg Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn.
Instead, Carano (8-1 MMA, 1-1 SF) wants to build her skills in a facility with more female fighters as she prepares for a return to the cage against an as-yet-unnamed opponent at June's "Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum" event.
"I think they have more females training down there, and I think she wanted to get her camp jumpstarted," Couture said.
Reports earlier this month that Carano quietly left Couture's flagship gym in Las Vegas to train with Jackson and Mike Winkeljohn in Albuquerque, N.M., led to speculation on the reason for her departure, and not all of it was positive.
Couture, however, said there wasn't any drama behind the move. Carano merely wanted to broaden her horizons.
"I'm all for it," Couture said. "I want all the fighters at my gym to go wherever they need to go to get what they need to progress and become the best fighters they can be.
"They can't always get that at Xtreme Couture."
Carano, who returns to action for the first time since a loss in August 2009 to Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos for the vacant Strikeforce women's middleweight title, has previously said she trains exclusively with men, though several female fighters have in the past worked at Xtreme Couture.
A mostly amateur squad of female fighters populate Jackson and Winkeljohn's gym. However, pros such as Julie Kedzie, whom Carano defeated more than three years ago under the EliteXC banner, and former world champion boxer Holly Holm, who recently transitioned into MMA, are regulars at the facility.
Couture expects to see Carano again in the future. In the meantime, he's glad that she's getting different looks.
"She's assured me that she's still a part of Xtreme Couture, and I wasn't worried about it anyway," he said. "She's great for the sport. She's a great person, and I think she's going to be fantastic this summer."
"Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum" takes place June 18 at American Airlines Center in Dallas and airs live on Showtime.
Source: http://mmajunkie.com/news/23265/randy-c ... ns-mma.mma