When Netflix and Most Valuable Promotions announced they were getting into the MMA business and promoting this weekend's blockbuster fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, it felt like a massive earthquake had hit the sport.
Rousey and Carano, two of the biggest stars in women's MMA history, are coming out of retirement to headline MVP MMA 1 on Saturday night at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The event will stream live on Netflix.
MVP, a boxing promotion run by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian, and Netflix, the world's largest streaming service, are poised to deliver one of the biggest MMA events of the year. The excitement has even drawn comparisons to the UFC's highly anticipated event at the White House on June 14. In addition to the headline fight, MVP MMA 1 will also feature Nate Diaz's return to the sport against Mike Perry and former UFC champion Francis Ngannou against Philipe Lins in a heavyweight bout.
This is the first time in a while that a non-UFC event is drawing this level of interest, but we shouldn't get too optimistic about Netflix and MVP's chances of shaking up the MMA landscape just yet.
Bidarian, the CEO of MVP, told the Sports Business Journal in April that the company plans to promote more MMA events if the Rousey-Carano card is a success.
"If it works, and I'm very confident it will work, yes - MVP will be involved in MMA over the long term," Bidarian said.
However, there's a reality where this event is just a one-off. With Rousey and Carano likely returning to retirement after Saturday's bout, MVP can't rely on their star power beyond this weekend. Diaz and Ngannou are big names, too, but this event wouldn't be getting nearly the same kind of attention without the two ladies. If MVP wanted to promote a second MMA event on Netflix, what would it even look like?
The truth is, there aren't many compelling names outside the UFC. And that's the biggest problem MVP needs to solve if it wants to make major waves consistently.
While Usman Nurmagomdov, Vadim Nemkov, AJ McKee, and Muhammed Mokaev are among the best fighters not under contract with the world's biggest MMA promotion, they're not stars like Conor McGregor, Alex Pereira, or Ilia Topuria. None of them can headline a fight card that competes with the UFC's marquee events.
If MMA were more like boxing and fighters weren't tied to one specific promotion, MVP and Netflix would have a much easier time shaking things up. It's why MVP has managed to completely disrupt boxing and put together several blockbuster matches over the last few years, including Paul's fights against Mike Tyson and Anthony Joshua.
But with the way MMA operates, one of MVP's only options is to poach fighters from the UFC - assuming they've become a free agent or were released from their contract.
MVP will need to make itself an attractive alternative. That means lucrative purses (compared to what the UFC pays), contracts that give its fighters the freedom to pursue different opportunities (think Ngannou getting to box Tyson Fury and Joshua while under contract with the PFL), and other perks.
The good news is that Netflix has deep pockets and has gone all-in on live sports.
If MVP can convince enough fighters to jump ship, maybe, just maybe, it can compete with the UFC.
Who would that be?
Dustin Poirier, who retired from MMA last year, said earlier in May that he would come back to fight Diaz because it was the matchup that "got away." They were scheduled to fight in the UFC in 2018, but the bout was canceled. Even after all these years, a showdown between Diaz and Poirier would do huge business.
Heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall is another potential candidate to leave the UFC and join MVP. Since suffering an eye injury against Ciryl Gane last October, he's had some grievances with the UFC and Dana White. He also wouldn't be the first reigning heavyweight champion to move on from the promotion, after Ngannou left as a free agent in 2021. Ngannou-Aspinall would be one of the biggest heavyweight fights in the sport.
Anything is possible when Paul and Bidarian are in charge. No one expected MVP's rise as a major player in boxing over the last six years or its emergence as a driving force in women's boxing by spotlighting fighters like Amanda Serrano. Likewise, few predicted Paul would become one of the sport's biggest stars, securing huge bouts against the likes of Joshua, Tyson, and Diaz.
So, hey, never say never. Maybe MVP MMA can be a serious competitor to the UFC one day. But it'll take more than Rousey and Carano to capture the MMA - and sports - world's attention for longer than one night.
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