Ronda Rousey will return to MMA for the first time since 2016. |
Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
A surprise matchup between two mixed martial arts legends will go
down in a few months — but it won’t happen at the White House.
Most Valuable Promotions announced on Tuesday that former UFC
champion Ronda
Rousey and women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano
will square off in a five-round, featherweight bout at the Intuit
Dome in Los Angeles on May 16. The fight will air on Netflix,
making it the first MMA bout to be broadcast on the streaming
platform. More fights are expected to be announced in the coming
weeks.
Rousey, who is now 39 years old, was one-half of the first woman’s
bout under the UFC banner and quickly emerged as one of the
promotion’s biggest stars during her peak. The Olympic judo bronze
medalist won her first 12 professional bouts — capturing titles in
the UFC and Strikeforce along the way — before exiting the sport on
the heels of back-to-back knockout losses against Holly Holm
and Amanda
Nunes — the last of which occurred in December 2016. In recent
months, “Rowdy” has fueled speculation that a comeback is imminent
with a series of training videos on social media, including one
post that where she stated that she was
”finding my love” for MMA again.
Since stepping away from the UFC in 2016, Rousey had a prominent
role in the WWE over two separate stints. Not long ago, Rousey
shut down the possibility of making a return to
the UFC at the White House event slated for June 14. Rousey was
reportedly
in talks for a boxing match against Katie
Taylor in Las Vegas this summer, but that booking did not come
to fruition.
“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,” Rousey said in a release. “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. More to come… much more.”
Carano, 43, hasn’t fought since August 2009, when she suffered a
first-round technical knockout loss to Cris Cyborg in a fight for
the vacant Strikeforce featherweight championship. Since then, she
has enjoyed a successful Hollywood career with roles in shows such
as “The Mandalorian” and movies such as “Deadpool,” “Haywire,” and
“Fast and the Furious 6.” Like Rousey, Carano never officially
announced her retirement from fighting. Carano has been training
regularly in Las Vegas at Syndicate MMA, and coach John Wood
admitted that his charge had that “fire lit.”
Carano is recognized as one of the early pioneers of women’s MMA.
Prior to facing “Cyborg,” she was victorious in her first seven
professional outings, besting the likes of Julie
Kedzie, Tonya
Evinger and Kaitlin
Young along the way. The bout vs. Kedzie at Elite XC “Destiny,”
was the first women’s fight to be televised on Showtime. Carano’s
crossover appeal also brought many more eyes to women’s MMA in
general.
“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,” Carano said. “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.”
More Than 10 Years in the Making
Carano and Rousey were
briefly linked for a fight in the
UFC in 2014, but the bout never truly came close to becoming a
reality. Instead, the organization led by YouTube personality
turned boxer Jake Paul
will make its first foray into MMA with a high-profile booking. MVP
is already well known for putting female boxers in prominent
positions on its cards, and now it will do the same with two of the
biggest stars in womens’ MMA.
“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,” MVP
co-founders Paul and Nakisa Bidarian said in a statement. “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. MVP’s
conviction in women’s boxing was driven by the success achieved by
Ronda Rousey, who was the biggest star of the entire sport of MMA
during her career.
“Following the unprecedented success of our boxing partnership, we
are proving that MVP and Netflix can create blockbuster live events
in multiple sports that engage fans across generations. This is
what we do.”
A press conference to promote the fight is scheduled for March 5 at
the Intuit Dome.
A LEGACY SHOWDOWN 🔥
#RouseyCaranoRonda
Rousey vs. Gina
Carano
Saturday May 16
LIVE only on Netflix pic.twitter.com/cybtQHNyPT— Netflix Sports (@netflixsports)
February 17, 2026