Netflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors.
The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA.
It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S.
Rousey was the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo before moving into mixed martial arts in 2011. She became the first female fighter signed by the UFC and was the sport’s face before retiring in 2016 and moving into WWE.
She has also starred in a number of movies and series including The Expendables 3 and Furious 7 as well as Entourage.
Carano started in Muay Thai before moving into MMA and becoming the face of the sport. She won seven matches before retiring after losing to Cris Cyborg.
Carano then became a successful actor, starring as the lead in Haywire before roles in Deadpool and Fast & Furious 6. She is best known for her role as Cara Dune in two seasons of Disney+’s The Mandalorian. However, she was fired from the show in 2021 for social media posts that compared being a conservative in the U.S. to being Jewish under Nazi Germany. She subsequently filed a lawsuit against Disney for wrongful termination, which ended in a settlement, and later started working in projects by The Daily Wire.
A fight between Rousey and Carano was always considered the biggest what-if in MMA; there was talk of a fight in 2014 but talks fell apart due to timing, weight-class considerations and the role of Dana White.
The fight will be professionally sanctioned under the Unified Rules of MMA and contested over five, 5-minute rounds using 4oz gloves, inside a hexagon cage.
It also marks the first MMA fight for Jake Paul’s MVP, which has staged a number of boxing matches for Netflix including the fight between Paul and Mike Tyson.
Tickets go on sale on March 5.
“Been waiting so long to announce this: Me and Gina Carano are gonna throw down in the biggest super fight in women’s combat sport history,” said Rousey. “And we’re partnering with the fighter-first promotion MVP as well as the biggest and baddest streamer on the planet Netflix. This is for all MMA fans past, present and future.”
“Ronda came to me and said there is only one person she would make a comeback for and it has been her dream to make this fight happen between us,” said Gina Carano. “She thanked me for opening up doors for her in her career and was respectful in asking for this fight to happen. This is an honor. I believe I will walk out of this fight with the win and I anticipate it will not come easy, which I welcome. This is as much for Ronda and me as it is for the fans and mixed martial arts community. What a time to be alive.”
Gabe Spitzer, Netflix VP of Sports, added, “After the record-breaking success in boxing, we wanted our first MMA event to be truly legendary. We’re thrilled to continue our partnership with MVP and bring together Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano to deliver the kind of high-stakes, icon-driven competition that our members crave. These are more than just athletes—they are generational stars—and having them headline our MMA debut at the Intuit Dome is a defining moment for us.”
“MVP has always been driven by disruption and delivering the biggest moments in combat sports on a global scale, and today we are officially bringing that energy to MMA for the first time,” said Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, co-founders of Most Valuable Promotions. “Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano are the two most formative figures in the history of women’s MMA; they are the icons who shattered the glass ceiling and helped build the foundation this sport stands on.”
