(George Galanis is an MMA fan, freelance writer and BPL contributor.)

Gina Carano will have to wait a little longer to make her return to the cage. 

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced that Carano wouldn't be fighting on June 18 against Sarah D'Alelio. Coker said Carano did not receive medical clearance from her doctor. 

"I'm disappointed not to be fighting on June 18. I'd like to thank [coach and trainer] Greg Jackson ... and I hope this is just a brief setback," Carano said in a prepared statement read by Coker. 

Carano's return was scheduled for the main card of Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum, that features the second two quarterfinal fights of the promotion's heavyweight tournament. 

Coker said the promotion did not have any additional details for the reason Carano wasn't cleared to fight. He said a lightweight top-contenders fight between KJ Noons and Jorge Masvidal, originally scheduled as part of the preliminaries, will be elevated to the main card. 

"I know she's really disappointed. We talked to her representatives," Coker said. "It's an unfortunate situation, and we'll be moving forward with the KJ Noons-Masvidal fight. We just don't have any other further information on Gina." 

Carano (7-1, 1-1 Strikeforce) was to make her return to the cage since her loss in August 2009 to Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos in the Strikeforce women's middleweight title fight. She has been away from fighting while pursuing a film career, including a role in Haywire, a film directed by Oscar winner Steven Soderbergh, scheduled for release later this year. 

Coker believes that despite Carano's movie future, she still has the drive to continue fighting. 

"Gina has a successful career in film now," Coker said. "She's done this Steven Soderbergh movie, and I heard it's been getting great reviews. They're feeling this could really launch her film career. What I respect about Gina is, she's a fighter at heart. This is something she wants to do." 

Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum takes place at the American Airlines Centre in Dallas. The main card features two quarterfinal fights in the promotion's Heavyweight Grand Prix — heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum, and Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers. 

Though the heavyweight tournament should be sufficient to draw viewers, Coker believed that having Carano on the card was a solid opportunity to bolster television ratings. 

"It's going to be a great event because Gina, let's face it, had the highest rated Showtime event for two years or something like that," Coker said. "The [Fedor vs. Silva] event in New Jersey beat that, but that was the heavyweight tournament. Gina and Cyborg held the rating. Showtime loves her, the media loves her — she's got that X factor." 

Coker said despite the long layoff for the 29-year-old who was anointed "the face of women's MMA" several years ago, he didn't believe Carano wanted to come back and just fight sporadically. He said he envisioned Carano returning so she could challenge for a title again.