Ronda Rousey will be making a surprising MMA return in less than three months’ time. On May 16, Rousey fights Gina Carano in the headlining contest of Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions’ first-ever MMA event.

This contest will be “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey’s first appearance under MMA rules since Dec. 30, 2016. In a rare Friday night event from the UFC, Rousey fought Amanda Nunes for the promotion’s women’s bantamweight championship.

The final fight of the 2016 slate from the No. 1 MMA promotion in the world ended on a sour note for Rousey and her camp. Even though the fight was an advertised five rounds at five minutes per round inside the fabled Octagon inside T-Mobile Arena, Nunes finished Rousey in under the first minute in the first round. The loss dropped her to 12-2 in MMA and 6-2 under the UFC banner.

Ronda Rousey Part of Bigger War on May 16

While the primary contest Rousey will appear in is against Gina Carano, this is only part of a larger-scale battle for her. Earlier Monday, Most Valuable Promotions released an episode of MVP Uncut concerning the Feb. 17 announcement.

In the video, Ronda Rousey offered up her take on MVP promoting her fight against Carano on May 16, a five-round fight at five minutes per round in the women’s featherweight division.

“It’s a dream fight and a superfight and everything,” Ronda Rousey said of her fight against Gina Carano, “but I feel like the story and everything behind it is not just this fight. A lot of it is MVP vs. UFC. That’s where I’m going to go real hard, in the trenches.”

Rousey vs. Carano Good News for Women’s MMA

Ronda Rousey is of the belief that her fight versus Carano in the second half of May will ultimately be of some benefit to Dana White’s organization. She explained to MVP co-founder and CEO Nikisa Bidarian why this is the case.

“They’re suffering from a lack of competition,” she continued. “They can’t just make a class-action lawsuit every couple of years, [it’s] the cost of doing business. I’m really trying to help Dana out. If anyone has been groomed to be his apprentice, it’s been me, and I think I’d be the most favorite adversary he’s ever had.”

Ronda Rousey on Why MVP Promoting Fight is the Right Move

In spite of Rousey’s friendship with the UFC’s CEO, she thinks that MVP made the best call in scheduling her contest with Carano for this spring. She pointed to Jake Paul’s 2024 exhibition boxing match with Mike Tyson as the rationale.

“Tyson vs. Paul was, what, the most-viewed fight ever?,” Rousey pondered “108 million views, and I was like, ‘Let’s do it!’ Nikisa was like, ‘This is such a great idea.’”

It should be noted that Ronda Rousey did approach UFC CEO Dana White to discuss the possibility of fighting under that banner one more time, something which she revealed in a Feb. 17 SportsCenter interview.

“It didn’t exactly work out with the UFC but it led us to here today,” she said last week on ESPN.

Bidarian Touches Base with Netflix and Rousey’s Thoughts on Fighter Pay

As was the case with several high-profile combat sporting events in recent years, Netflix will carry Ronda Rousey’s return to MMA for the first time in close to a decade. “Rowdy” recalled Nikisa Bidarian’s process of getting the streaming giant onboard with this contest and expressed her opinion on Netflix broadcasting the fight.

“He’s like, ‘I’m going to reach out to Netflix and we’re going to make it happen,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘All right.’ He’s been fantastic and really great to work with. I think what I love about Netflix is they just want to put on the best fight possible.”

The UFC legend also discussed the issue of wages in MMA.

“What I love about MVP is they want to make sure that the fighters are compensated as fairly as possible,” she continued. “I’m so grateful to the UFC and all the opportunities they gave me. I was making zero as an Olympian, but I was able to retire comfortably because of the UFC.”

Final Thoughts

While Rousey’s return to the cage will have a definitive outcome known immediately after the final bell, the battle between MVP and the UFC won’t be decided until after the promotion’s respective events are held.

We have one simple question to pose as we sign off: Will you watch this fight? The answer is yours and yours alone.