May 17, 2026<\/a><\/p>\nBut for the present, Saturday proved again that this era of combat sports is far more about name and star power than prestige and skill set, at least when it comes to getting eyeballs.<\/p>\n
Bidarian and Jake Paul didn\u2019t have MMA in their sights when they founded MVP in 2021. The promotion was built to be fighter-first, a phrase Bidarian repeated four times in a conversation with The Athletic on Monday, and for years those fighters were solely boxers, including Paul muscling into the sport with his fame as an influencer.<\/p>\n
Then Rousey approached.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really Ronda who came to me with the idea and said, \u2018What do you think?\u2019\u201d Bidarian said. \u201cAnd I instantly recognized what a massive, massive moment this was gonna be for sports, not just MMA.<\/p>\n
\u201cRonda very early on was very passionate about, \u2018I want to build with you. I want to be your Dana White.\u2019 And I said to Ronda, \u2018I\u2019m not (former UFC CEO) Lorenzo Fertitta. I can\u2019t walk a mile in his shoes, but Jake and I are disruptors. And what you\u2019re talking about is disruptive. And while we\u2019ll never replicate or replace the UFC in the next few years, we certainly can provide a product and a platform for athletes that\u2019s unique, interesting and fighter-first.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The UFC was never far from the buzz surrounding MVP\u2019s MMA venture, especially after White announced on Instagram Live in the middle of Saturday\u2019s event that megastar Conor McGregor, whose rise mirrored Rousey\u2019s, would return to the sport this July.<\/p>\n
Like a UFC card, MVP\u2019s marquee night was filled with predictions, bloody action and immediate questions about what might come next. Jon Jones, the former UFC champion who has clearly fallen out with the promotion, openly mused about getting out of his contract, perhaps with help from Netflix, to fight Francis Ngannou. Unlike most UFC fights, there were large patches of empty seats and no clear progression for which events or bouts might come next.<\/p>\n
\u201cMVP is here to get fighters paid more,\u201d Paul said after Ngannou\u2019s win, \u201cand to give them another platform that gets more views than the UFC.\u201d<\/p>\n
One of the first immediate questions early next week will be the viewership of this event on Netflix, which has well over 300 million subscribers worldwide and has aggressively chased live sporting events in recent years. The UFC, meanwhile, has put on underwhelming events in its first year of a deal with Paramount+, which has about 80 million subscribers. The promotion\u2019s Freedom 250 spectacle planned for June 14, however, was only possible because of White\u2019s friendship with President Donald Trump. Just last week, the UFC CEO said the event \u2014 a card on the South Lawn of the White House \u2014 is the most important one in the company\u2019s history.<\/p>\n
Also last week, after a card in New Jersey, White declined to temper expectations about the MVP event and rather praised Rousey and Carano. Saturday night, Paul positioned himself as more of a direct foil for the powerful UFC.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhite House, Dana White, all of you be prepared because this is the takeover,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Before Rousey can figure out whether she can or wants to follow up on her chatter about becoming MVP\u2019s Dana White, she first had to be MVP\u2019s Ronda Rousey. On that goal, she delivered easily. Fans on Saturday night saw the Rousey who steamrolled her first 12 MMA opponents between 2011 and 2015, rather than the one who was brutally outclassed by Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.<\/p>\n
The Rousey who armbarred Cat Zingano in 14 seconds and knocked out Bethe Correia in 34 seconds was the Rousey whose name drew some of the largest audiences in MMA history. And after 10 years away from the sport (with a career twist into staged professional wrestling and a life twist into motherhood in between), Rousey needed less than a minute to have that same audience harkening back to her glory days of the early 2010s.<\/p>\n
After all, that\u2019s the currency of combat sports: moments. And then, after that, moments that give you reminders of those earlier moments. As with Mike Tyson returning at 59 to box Paul, or Brock Lesnar\u2019s dramatic return at UFC 200, the sight of an icon back in the arena where they were first embraced is all it takes for the nostalgia to flow.<\/p>\n
That Rousey\u2019s hand was raised in victory was just the cherry on top.<\/p>\n
Aside from the result, much of the same can be said for Carano. Before the Rousey era, Carano was a trailblazer who helped put women\u2019s MMA on the map with her undefeated reign at EliteXC and then her battle with Cris Cyborg for the inaugural Strikeforce women\u2019s featherweight championship.<\/p>\n
![\"Gina](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2026-05-17T043531Z_917508112_MT1USATODAY28983770_RTRMADP_3_MMA-ROUSEY-VS-CARANO-scaled.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n\n Gina Carano proved an MMA name could star in Hollywood, too. \u201cGetting in the cage was a victory,\u201d she said Saturday. (Jayne Kamin-Oncea \/ Imagn Images)<\/p>\n
Saturday night, she very much looked like a 44-year-old who has spent far more time acting than training for mixed martial arts over the past decade. And yet again, the opportunity gave fans a chance to reminisce on her 2005 days as the woman who proved an MMA name could star in Hollywood, too.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting in the cage was a victory. Getting here after 17 years was a victory,\u201d Carano said after the bout. \u201cThis was a victory in my life; she changed it. I woke up every morning at 3 a.m. thinking about her. I took 100 pounds off my body, which is going to give me a longer life. There are so many good things to think about here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nostalgia was littered throughout the main card. Ngannou, whose years of inactivity left a layer of dust on his legendary resume, returned to the cage and added another first-round knockout to his highlight tape. It was his eighth straight win but just his second since 2022.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf somebody doesn\u2019t remember who I am, they must have amnesia or something,\u201d Ngannou said after the win, adding that he hoped to fight Jones before they both retire.<\/p>\n
In the co-main event, fan favorite Nate Diaz battled Mike Perry, of bare-knuckle boxing fame, in a two-round banger filled with far more blood than any display of the jiu-jitsu that propelled Diaz to stardom. It ended with Diaz\u2019s corner not allowing the blood-soaked Diaz to continue the fight after he spent the previous 10 minutes absorbing countless knees, elbows and punches from the far superior Perry.<\/p>\n
As for what comes next?<\/p>\n
Paul told reporters he would like to stage a rematch of Diaz-Perry, perhaps in Sacramento, Calif., near Diaz\u2019s hometown of Stockton. It was another idea on a night filled with thoughts and opinions, like Paul\u2019s consideration of boxing Ngannou and his opinions on fighter pay, Jones, the UFC and a few other scattered bouts across boxing and mixed martial arts.<\/p>\n
Will any of it stick? According to Bidarian, that depends on what Saturday night\u2019s numbers say about his and Paul\u2019s most recent attempt at disruption.<\/p>\n
\u201cListen, we feel very great about the financial position we\u2019re in, right? So that part is covered,\u201d Bidarian said before the event. \u201cI think it\u2019s just about the viewership and seeing how fans engage with the product.\u201d<\/p>\n