Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and Netflix teamed up for a night of mixed martial arts (MMA) action last night (Sat., May 16, 2026) at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California. The card was headlined by Ronda Rousey’s submission victory over Gina Carano, which followed Mike Perry’s destruction of Nate Diaz, and Francis Ngannou’s snuff film starring Philipe Lins.
From a production standpoint, it looked great and had a much different aesthetic from what we’re used to seeing with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and Professional Fighters League (PFL). Inside the cage, most of the fights delivered. I’m sure some fans were disappointed by the lightning-quick finish in the main event, but the entire card was built around Rousey’s vanity project.
Remember, this wasn’t a revolution — it was sloppy seconds.
The only reason MVP and Netflix were in business with Rousey is because UFC passed on her offer to stage a one-off fight against Carano. “Rowdy” would later declare war on UFC and shop her Carano fight to Nakisa Bidarian, the former UFC employee who co-founded MVP alongside social media personality Jake Paul. Bidarian had both the means and the availability to make it happen, thanks to his excellent track record with Netflix.
Funny how Rousey didn’t seem to care these issues while she was making millions in UFC.
Last night’s card was not about building something new. It was an encore for some of the biggest names in the business who used to be a big deal in UFC. Diaz is 41-years-old and has a face like a catcher’s mitt after years of abuse — and is still three years younger than Carano, 44. Rousey and Ngannou are both 39 but outside of their ages, there’s a bigger problem for MVP in the current MMA space.
They have no fighters.
Even if Bidarian wanted to stage a second event or start building toward a sustainable future, there simply aren’t enough stars to keep Netflix interested, which is why negotiations between UFC and Netflix broke down last year when Dana White and Co. were shopping for a new broadcast partner. The streaming giant wasn’t interested in those shitty Apex cards that run every weekend in Las Vegas.
The Rousey vs. Carano card could very well become the most watched MMA event in history thanks to the affordability and global reach of Netflix. Remember, EliteXC also set a ratings record for MMA back in 2008, thanks to the broad appeal of Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, then died on the vine just a couple of months later. Turns out there’s more to running an MMA promotion than just intermittent super fights.
Just ask this unemployed promoter.
I enjoyed the Rousey vs. Carano card and I hope all the fighters involved make tons of money for their efforts. They may need it when you consider the limited options in the MMA space these days. And don’t be fooled by all that banter between Francis Ngannou and Jon Jones, which sounded just as stupid last night in Los Angeles as it did three years ago in Saudi Arabia, when PFL tried to milk the same angle.
Jones, who turns 39 in July, is never escaping his eight-fight UFC contract.
Never. Ever.
It would be great if MVP was able to stage mega-events like Rousey vs. Carano every few months, but that would require a major streaming service to pick up the tab, since the once-lucrative pay-per-view (PPV) model is all but dead. More importantly, it would need to sign big enough names to attract the increasingly-jaded MMA fan base and most of the top stars are already doing time for UFC.