ESPN: Jake Paul, MVP Vow to Compete with UFC

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https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id/48800338/jake-paul-mvp-promotions-mma-vow-compete-ufc

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INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Most Valuable Promotions co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian’s foray into mixed martial arts formally launched on Saturday with MVP MMA 1 at Intuit Dome, headlined by Ronda Rousey’s 17-second submission of fellow women’s MMA pioneer Gina Carano.

The event, which streamed live on Netflix, was heavy on name recognition but lacked competition, as each of the five main-card fights produced a one-sided stoppage win.

Nevertheless, the fight card featuring popular MMA stars Rousey, Carano, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou and fan favorite Nate Diaz garnered significant attention.

With the first event behind them, the obvious question for Paul and Bidarian is whether they will look to promote another MMA event and attempt to plant their flag as a true competitor to the premier promotion, UFC. The promotional power of Paul combined with the business acumen of Bidarian, who previously served as the chief financial officer and chief strategy officer at the UFC, has created a tremendous opportunity for MVP to carve out a decent chunk in the MMA landscape.

For Paul, an eternal optimist, the attention the first event received gives MVP a head start on the process of building out an entire MMA promotion.

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“You usually don’t immediately start right at the top, but there’s a lot of work still to be done,” Paul told ESPN after Saturday’s fight card. “But what we’re best at is getting into the details and hiring the best people, the right production and talent managers. We’ve proven we can do that in boxing and treat the fighters better than anyone. I believe it’s going to be easy for us in MMA.”

Bidarian said it’s “realistic” that MVP MMA 2 will take place this calendar year and cited several potential headliners, including Ngannou vs. Robelis Despaigne, who brutally stopped former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos in the main card opener. And while Netflix hosted the first MVP MMA fight card, Bidarian said MVP is not beholden to only doing shows on Netflix.

“My hope is that we do it with Netflix, but there’s also Amazon, Fox and many other players who hopefully saw what we did tonight and are excited about the opportunity to work with us,” Bidarian told ESPN on Saturday.

While MVP does have a long-term relationship with Netflix, Bidarian said the deal is structured to allow MVP flexibility, similar to how the boxing side of the operation works with Netflix and recently announced a multiyear deal with ESPN for MVPW.

MVP’s first MMA card was headlined by two fighters who hadn’t fought in 10 or more years, but Paul and Bidarian made it clear that there won’t be an overreliance on MMA athletes from the past to carry the promotion in the future. Even if that formula has worked for MVP in the boxing world.

Paul vs. Mike Tyson in 2024 significantly boosted the profiles of women’s boxers Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor, who fought in an epic co-main event rematch of their April 2022 fight. That card paved the way for an all-women’s event last year that featured world title bouts up and down the card, including Taylor vs. Serrano 3. A similar model for MMA could allow lesser-known fighters the opportunity to perform on big stages. Paul cited the performances of Despaigne, Salahdine Parnasse and Namo Fazil as potential breakout stars from Saturday night.

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Building out a roster of talent will also be important, and according to Paul and Bidarian, a tremendous number of fighters signed to other organizations have expressed interest in MVP.

“I’m excited about the amount of outreach we’ve had inbound to us from current fighters, former fighters, future fighters and fighters with other promotions that shouldn’t be calling us,” Bidarian said. While he wouldn’t cite which fighters had reached out, several MMA stars were present at the event Saturday, including PFL women’s featherweight champion Cris Cyborg, UFC lightweight Arman Tsarukyan and, of course, former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Jones, specifically, said on the Netflix broadcast Saturday that MVP “would probably be the only way” to make a long-wanted fight against Ngannou happen.

“I’ve got to focus on getting out of my UFC contract,” Jones said. “I don’t think [UFC CEO] Dana [White] is interested in doing business with Francis.”

The mere suggestion from arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time carries significant weight regarding the appeal of a new promotional outfit.

“There were so many MMA legends in the building, and it just feels like we blossomed something new here that everyone wants to be a part of,” Paul said. “It’s a new vision and a new tunnel for people to explore now.”

All of it starts with a fighter-first approach that presents athletes with an alternative to compete that is both profitable and marketable.

“If we can provide an alternative that’s fighter-first, that’s equitable, that has a great partner in distribution, why would fighters not want to work with us?” Bidarian asked. “We’re not going to be piggish in our desire to have insane profit margins. We don’t want to be in the business of losing money, but we don’t need to make crazy amounts of money to create asset value. We want to be fair to the fighters and pay them what we believe they are worth, which is more than other promotions.”

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Reportedly, the minimum purse for Saturday’s fighters was $40,000, with Rousey’s $2.2 million topping the payout.

Another carrot that MVP can dangle in front of MMA fighters is the opportunity to try their hand at boxing, which has become all the rage in recent years.

“We want to offer optionality to make the biggest events in MMA and boxing,” Bidarian said. “What’s the biggest event the UFC has been involved in? A co-promoted boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor.”

Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian’s MVP Promotions hosted its first MMA fight card at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, on Saturday night. Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix

Infrastructure will be key as the promotion moves full steam ahead toward becoming a major player in the MMA landscape, and Rousey could be a difference-maker almost immediately. Although Rousey has stated under no uncertain terms that her fighting career is over, she left the door open to working with MVP outside the cage.

“The UFC needs competition, and I think MVP is the best organization to provide competition and I would love to help,” Rousey said. “I know the fighting side, so I’d have to learn more on the promotional side, but if there’s a way to make it work, I’d be open to figuring out something.”

The road is long before MVP could truly serve as a competitor to the UFC, but Bidarian and Paul are committed to building out the MMA arm of their promotion. With Paul’s passion for equitable fighter pay and innate ability to market himself, and Bidarian’s business sense, Most Valuable Promotions has made it clear it has entered the MMA landscape to stay.

“It’s back to the drawing board for us, but we’re ready to keep on going,” Paul said. "We love doing this, and don’t want to do anything that’s mid like the UFC has been doing. We’re always going to hold ourselves to a higher standard, and because of that, there might be fewer events, but we’re going to do as many as we can. A lot of things were set up for us tonight.

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“I stand here ready to go to war with the UFC using my followers and promotional ability. [The UFC] knows they can’t touch me.”

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I would start by not Headlining a fighter who hasn’t fought in nearly 2 decades.

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how do you compete with UFC using their cast off fighters?

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They should go after the democrats because every fucking card of theirs is an abortion.

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It’s a short term strategy like late 90s WCW. Will grow stale quickly

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The fans’ reactions were also hot. The media added, “Leerdam shook the atmosphere of the venue by appearing in a deep-necked braless dress. On social media, reactions poured in regarding Leerdam’s style. One fan wrote, ‘She is really beautiful,’ and another wrote, ‘She is really dazzling.’ There were also comments like, ‘A perfect couple.’”

On that day, Leerdam watched the matches from the first-row VIP seats at the venue alongside Paul. Paul, a former “20 million YouTuber,” has transformed into a professional boxing stage and is now fully entering the MMA market. Leerdam, who got engaged to Paul in March 2025, also attended the weigh-in event the day before the match and continued to post related content on social media, seemingly supporting her fiancé’s business.

Thanks to this, the tournament also became a box-office hit. 15,795 people attended this MVP MMA event held in LA. Although Netflix’s official viewership numbers have not been released yet, it was reported that Rousey’s comeback match was the most-watched event on the platform.

Leerdam and Paul’s relationship began in 2022. Paul first contacted her to propose appearing on his podcast, and this meeting became the starting point for them to officially become a couple in 2023. In March last year, Paul also drew hot attention by proposing publicly with a large diamond ring.

Leerdam boasts not only popularity but also an outstanding career. She won the gold medal in the women’s 1,000m speed skating at the Milan-Cortina Olympics in February, setting an Olympic record (1 minute 12.31 seconds). Paul, who was watching from the stands, even shed tears of emotion.

Above all, Leerdam gained attention by revealing her white Nike sports bra under her uniform after confirming her gold medal. Nike, her sponsor, released photos right after her victory, and the marketing effect was estimated to be around 1 million dollars (approximately 1.5 billion Korean won). Moreover, her uniform was sold at an auction for 170,913 pounds (approximately 345 million Korean won), setting a new record.