Nearly a decade after stepping away from mixed martial arts, Ronda Rousey is returning to the cage for a long-anticipated showdown with fellow trailblazer Gina Carano. The bout is scheduled for May 16 at Intuit Dome and will stream live on Netflix, marking the platform’s first live professional MMA event.
The fight, promoted by Most Valuable Promotions—the company founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian—will be contested at 145 pounds under the Unified Rules of MMA. The five-round main event will feature five-minute rounds, 4-ounce gloves and take place inside a hexagon cage. A kickoff press conference is set for March 5, with additional bouts to be announced.
Rousey, 39, reshaped women’s MMA during her meteoric rise. A bronze medalist in judo at the 2008 Olympics, she became the UFC’s first female signee and its inaugural women’s bantamweight champion. Between 2013 and 2015, she defended her title six straight times, often finishing opponents in seconds with her trademark armbar. She retired in 2016 after knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, later transitioning to WWE, where she captured multiple championships. In 2018, she became the first woman inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Rousey said in a statement: “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! 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, helped bring visibility to women’s MMA before Rousey’s ascent. With a 7-1 record and a Muay Thai background, she headlined the first major women’s MMA main event in 2009 against Cris Cyborg under the Strikeforce banner. After that loss, she stepped away from competition and built a Hollywood résumé, appearing in projects such as Fast & Furious 6, Deadpool and the Disney+ series The Mandalorian.
For years, a fight between the two was considered MMA’s ultimate “what if.” Previous efforts to book the matchup never materialized—until now. Carano said in a statement: “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. 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.”
The event represents MVP’s first foray into MMA after promoting several high-profile boxing cards, and it underscores Netflix’s growing investment in live sports programming. Company executives described the bout as a defining moment for the streamer’s expansion into combat sports. Paul and Bidarian called Rousey and Carano “the two most formative figures in the history of women’s MMA,” crediting them with helping build the sport into what it is today.
Tickets for Rousey vs. Carano go on sale Thursday, March 5 via Ticketmaster. Fans can also tune in as Rousey and Carano meet face-to-face at the Rousey vs. Carano Kickoff Press Conference on Thursday, March 5 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
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