Has No One Seen Ronda Rousey Fight Before?
Oh yea, the vasty majority of Netflixers probably haven't.
Netflix’s broadcast of Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano definitely brought in eyeballs based on the amount of online conversation bitching about the 17-second main event.
There’s also this data point from Tapology:
And Ben Fowlkes raised an important point:
That was certainly the case with all the Jabronies screaming “FIX!” and “WORK!” after the main event.
I’m not sure what they expected a 44-year-old Gina Carano to do that a prime Cat Zingano couldn’t.
For reference, check Sherdog’s page for Ronda’s MMA career up to 2015, before her losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes:
MMA Draw contributor William Watts saw strategy in MVP’s booking of the card:
My concern with this cup-half-full take on the show is that if the Netflix audience only showed up for the main and co-main as the live audience did, none of that matters.
Additional thoughts coming out of the show:
Was it a mistake to run Los Angeles for a celebrity MMA event, given the history of LA people showing up very late and leaving early (for things like Dodgers games)?
Our warning in our preview about Netflix and MVP heavily featuring Ariel Helwani on the broadcast proved to be right. Thankfully, rumors that Ariel would be doing color commentary on the fights proved false. Regardless, Ariel was anywhere and everywhere. Ariel seemed to see himself as the star of the show. Main Character Syndrome, much?
The funniest Ariel moment of the night was him being in the cage for a post-fight interview with Namo Fazil, who thanked Ali Abdelaziz in his post-fight speech right in front of Ariel (who was beefing with Ali and Belal Muhammad all week long over Israel and Strickland). Then Arman Tsarukyan had an exchange of words with Fazil after he left the cage.MVP doesn’t seem to have any plans for a Netflix follow-up event.
Nakisa’s comments to Ariel during the telecast seemed to be about waiting to see what the numbers look like. Then their post-fight presser floated the idea of Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry in a rematch and Gina Carano having a second fight (both terrible ideas).
“Tonight was a success across the board, no matter how you want to look at it.”There are industry rumors of some sort of PFL/MVP deal moving forward. Whether that’s PFL loaning out talent, a licensing deal for PFL to use the MVP MMA name, or even something as big as a spinoff, right now, MVP is in a strange position, and PFL is desperate. They just refinanced two very important liens in London with major financier Ares Capital. Even if PFL and MVP reach a deal, do the sum of the parts equal a cohesive vision and story to sell?
So many people were upset about the 20-second finish by Ronda Rousey over Gina Carano.
Al Bernstein@AlBernstein@DanRafael1 I am speechless at how absurd this ended up being. Usually when you pull off a con you have to at least make it look good. Not even an attempt at that. No matter how low the expectation of this event was the reality was lower.4:15 AM · May 17, 2026 · 4.91K Views18 Replies · 17 Reposts · 87 LikesDid Gina truly engage in fight training, or was her training about her looks and health? Was this about getting back in good graces of Hollywood after The Mandalorian? Nobody bought into the Girl Power feminism angle this time around. Gina, smiling like a Cheshire cat after the fight, who grabbed a big bag of cash to do the job, really burned people. It was the predictable outcome for all of us who know MMA and have seen Rousey fights before, but for casual fans (like the veteran boxing writer Al Bernstein quoted above), it really seemed to burn people.
The problem with MVP MMA is that it struggles to find a consistent theme or audience. They drew a lot of women in Los Angeles. This was much more of a celebrity fight than a sports or MMA fight.
This was not the 18-to-34-year-old bro demo that Mark Shapiro obsesses over. This was different. The question is whether or not this is an audience that is repeat MMA watchers or just one-and-dones. It wasn’t until the last three fights before we really saw the fans show up.
That’s not great, especially if the plan was to use the attention garnered by Ronda vs Gina to build Salahdine Parnasse or Robelis Despaigne with American audiences. Also, Intuit Dome is a nice building, but you cannot mask empty seats whatsoever in that place. Very unforgiving.The whole Jon Jones/Tyron Woodley discussion about his UFC contract and Francis Ngannou was a head-slapper
Bay_J@bay_jevTonight I watched Ngannou on Netflix, who got stripped for not signing their contract and the guy who was the next UFC HW Champ in Jones, say on air he wants out of his UFC contract to fight…Ngannou. I can’t wait until the UFC brass bring this clarity to boxing.4:35 AM · May 17, 2026 · 364 Views1 Reply · 3 Reposts · 11 LikesIt just highlights how both Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou are inseparably linked in UFC and MMA HW history. They both need each other to really complete and finish the story of their respective careers.
Francis beat up a jobber and looked good doing it, but people don’t really want to see him versus Jake Paul.
Ngannou needs to be fighting the UFC HW top guys, and UFC really could use him (they just don’t want to pay him fairly). Jon Jones is the same way.
It’s a perfect example of how MVP has some key components and parts, but the sum of the parts doesn’t really add up. PFL was in the Ngannou business. MVP is in the Ngannou business. Without UFC, it feels incomplete.
As Luke Thomas pointed out, Jon Jones has six fights remaining on the eight-fight UFC deal he signed in 2023. He’ll never get out of that contract to fight Ngannou.
The biggest advantage UFC has is locking down fighter mobility. PFL has burned through over $300M, if not $400M. ONE burned through at least $500M. They could fundraise, but they could not break UFC fighter contracts and negotiating tactics. It’s why Judge Richard Boulware remains the only threat left to UFC’s business model. Otherwise, they have completely cemented a one-promotion sport.There’s a difference between nostalgia and just being old and washed.
Jason Hagholm@JHagholm1@FightOpinion @KidNate Mauro on commentary said to tonight that this week felt like an MMA Convention that’s not good Conventions are where you see stars of yesterday at the true end of their careers hoping to make some big bucks A sad state of affairs for MMA as there is no fresh blood in the sport5:09 AM · May 17, 2026 · 280 Views1 Repost · 4 LikesNate and I argued in our preview post that this show just felt old heading into it. Nate Diaz’s slurred speech was troubling. Not quite Nam Phan level, but we’re getting there. Ant Evans pointed out on Twitter Saturday night that people industry-wide were in denial about his slurred speech.
Ant Evans@AntEvansMMAI've had friends in the industry insist I am wrong, but Nate Diaz is slurring his speech badly. It is very worrying. No, he hasn't always spoke like this - fuck off with that. He should not be allowed the fight again.3:44 AM · May 17, 2026 · 64.8K Views57 Replies · 27 Reposts · 673 LikesDillon Danis ended up roasting Nate Diaz as a drunk Uncle at a BBQ, trying to get in a fight.
Dillon Danis@dillondanisNate Diaz literally looks like a drunk uncle fighting at a barbecue. WTF is this? Absolutely embarrassing. Now he’s gonna use the “never got finished” line because it ended by a cut.3:29 AM · May 17, 2026 · 149K Views181 Replies · 85 Reposts · 2.39K LikesNate got slaughtered by bare-knuckle king Platinum Mike Perry, who has become what everyone thought Kimbo Slice actually was (although he fights just like prime Phil Baroni). This guy is the real street fighter who terminates careers and shaves years off of old UFC veterans. Perry was really the big winner on Saturday night.
Dana White saved the Conor McGregor vs. Max Holloway announcement for Francis Ngannou’s fight. It was funny, but it was not surprising at all. It was all too predictable. No matter what anyone else attempts outside of UFC, it is always UFC invading the OODA loop and crashing a news cycle just to screw with people — like distracting a cat with a laser pointer.
There was no way some of the guys booked for the MVP MMA card should have been allowed in the cage. Junior dos Santos?!? No bleeping way. Andy Foster approved this. It’s on HIM. Also, notice the shape of the fighters? Luke Thomas joked on his livestream about “Chinese peptides.” Did MVP engage in its own third-party drug testing?
What does this event mean for Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano? Ronda was talking about buying a new house in Hawaii, and then she said that Dana texted her the morning of the fight.
Home of Fight@Home_of_Fight👀📲 Ronda Rousey reveals Dana White sent her a text in the morning of Gina Carano fight: "He texted me this morning wishing me luck and saying he hopes Gina and I kill it. I told him how much it meant to hear that from him. He’s been an incredible friend to me, and honestly,6:38 AM · May 17, 2026 · 39.9K Views7 Replies · 10 Reposts · 455 Likes
The problem with senior-circuit fights like Rousey-Carano is that they don’t lead anywhere. There’s no indication that Ronda is any more interested in fighting Cris Cyborg than she was ten years ago, and sadly, there’s no one else in Women’s MMA that promises an intriguing bout for Rousey.
But MVP has been resourceful so far, and if the show did Netflix-pleasing numbers, there’s still hope for a teeny-tiny bit of competition in MMA.
Nate Wilcox is Editor-in-Chief of The MMA Draw. He founded BloodyElbow.com in 2007 and sold it in 2024.
Zach Arnold is a lead opinion writer for The MMA Draw on Substack. His archives can be read at FightOpinion.com.
I have to admit, though I had a pretty good idea how a bunch of these fights would go, it was still very entertaining. I watched it alongside a friend (albeit in another state; we all have Netflix and Discord, these days) who is a lapsed combat sports guy much like myself. He couldn't stop talking about how much fun this event was and that he was down for giving MMA another shot if they kept showing fun cards like this one on Netflix.
Sure, it was largely an irresponsible nostalgia play, but it helped put a few names on my radar (particularly Parnasse.) most importantly though, it's got people excited and talking, regardless of the sentiment online. I don't hear anyone talking that excitedly about the UFC these days.
Cris Cyborg is the only logical fight for Ronda history, and there's no chance in hell that Ronda takes it because she knows she can't win this one. Honestly the Gina-Ronda fight felt similar to the Jones-Stipe fight.
As for Francis, people talk about him fighting Despaigne, but I would say more interesting would be Rico Verhoeven. That was the plan in the first before he booked the Usyk fight.
I have to say, I was laughing when he clowned Jon Jones' business acumen in his post fight interview.