On Saturday night, Jake Paul delved into mixed martial arts (MMA) for the first time – not as a fighter, despite plans he has teased in the past, but as a promoter. In fact, this was Netflix’s first foray into MMA, too.
Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), which he runs with Nakisa Bidarian, hosted an event at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, as the action culminated in Ronda Rousey’s return to MMA.
After a decade in professional wrestling and acting, the former UFC champion returned to the cage to face fellow trailblazer Gina Carano. Seventeen seconds were all Rousey needed to beat her fellow American with a signature armbar.
In the chief-support bouts, there was further representation from ex-UFC stars, as former heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou secured a trademark knockout of Philipe Lins, and fan favourite Nate Diaz was bloodied and beaten by Mike Perry.
So, there were plenty of familiar names in action, but can MVP become a genuine alternative to the UFC, MMA’s flagship brand? And does MVP even want to be such a competitor? Let’s dive into Saturday’s card, and what it means going forward.
Star power
Nowadays, you wouldn’t see a UFC event with the accumulative star power of Rousey, Carano, Diaz and Ngannou. Many fans believe that UFC cards have worsened in quality in recent times, arguably since the company merged with pro-wrestling giant WWE under the TKO umbrella.
Even Saturday’s announcement of Conor McGregor’s summer comeback brought the revelation of a card that will be strong… but which still won’t have the overall star power that MVP MMA 1 did. Let’s be clear: McGregor (who will compete for the first time in five years) has greater drawing power than any MMA fighter on the planet, and support from Max Holloway and Paddy Pimblett will be helpful at UFC 329, but the group of Rousey, Carano, Diaz and Ngannou is still more formidable in a certain sense.
Match-up quality
This is where MVP’s debut suffered on paper, but – in turn – pleasantly surprised in reality.
Rousey hadn’t fought in 10 years, but the 39-year-old was still a big favourite against Carano, 44, who hadn’t fought in 17 years. And actually, Rousey’s clinical exhibition of technique was arguably the best-case scenario; had that fight gone any longer, it might have exposed how rusty the legends must surely be.
Then there was Ngannou vs Lins. The latter is a former PFL heavyweight champion, but he was always likely to be fodder for Ngannou, and so he proved to be. At least Diaz vs Perry felt, in advance, as though it might be more evenly matched, and it did produce frantic, fun action for two rounds. Utimately, Diaz’s historical scar-tissue issues cost him; the 41-year-old was bloodied and beaten before being pulled out of the fight.
Still, you can clearly contrast the balance of these three fights with the overall quality of UFC 329, for example.
Pimblett vs Saint-Denis is an enthralling proposition, while former middleweight champ Robert Whittaker will debut at 205lb in a sensible test with Nikita Krylov – and there are well-matched bouts elsewhere on the card, like Brandon Royval vs Lone’er Kavanagh and Cody Garbrandt vs Adrian Yanez.
Presentation
Saturday’s show in Inglwood was mostly slick, which is no surprise given what a great venue the Intuit Dome is, and what smooth operators Netflix tend to be. In the grand scheme of things, Netflix is still new to live sports, but it has useful experience in the boxing realm now – with Paul having fought Mike Tyson and Anthony Joshua on the platform, of course.
Furthermore, there was a dependable broadcast crew, with MMA journalist Ariel Helwani guiding proceedings. Among others, he was supported by former UFC champ Tyron Woodley on punditry duties, former UFC title challenger Kenny Florian on commentary, and Kody “Big Mo” Mommaerts as the ring announcer – the best in the game right now.
Paul lent his profile to the show by entering the cage for the post-fight interviews, but he mostly did well not to overshadow the athletes themselves (dealing fairly well with a callout from old boxing foe Perry and potential opponent Ngannou).
The future
One of the lesser-known fighters to be spotlighted was rising talent Salahdine Parnasse, who impressed before the trio of ‘main-event’ bouts. The 28-year-old’s inclusion showed MVP’s efforts to not just feature former UFC stars, and to potentially build some of their own.
How much interest does MVP have in building for the future, though? Bidarian has been clear that there probably won’t be more than a few MVP MMA events per year, for the foreseeable future. Still, that means that when they do arise, they’re likely to be big-time shows with the star power to incentivise Netflix to stay involved.
So no, MVP is unlikely to emerge as a genuine, week-to-week alternative or threat to the UFC – not any time soon, at least – but it did make a decent mark on its debut. Hell, UFC boss Dana White even timed the announcement of McGregor’s comeback during Ngannou’s walkout, which was surely an attempt to take some shine off of MVP’s show.
MVP has the UFC’s attention, then, and that of the casual MMA fan. Can it attract the hardcores consistently? Does it want to? That remains to be seen.