Ronda Rousey was in talks to return to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and make record-breaking money to fight Gina Carano, but the promotionâs transition to Paramount+ and death of pay-per-view (PPV) points put all that to rest.
Earlier this week, Rousey and Carano dropped a bombshell on the mixed martial arts (MMA) community by announcing a fight for May 16 on Netflix. The two womenâs MMA pioneers partnered up with Jake Paul and Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) to make the superfight a reality. It may be 10 years too late from when Rousey and Carano were in their respective primes, but itâs still a big deal for MMA in 2026.
The first question fight fans were asking was whether or not UFC had a shot to bring Rousey vs. Carano to the Octagon. According to Rousey, all parties were involved in talks to get a deal done prior to UFCâs transition from ESPN+ to Paramount+. Once the new partnership took flight and PPV points went away it completely changed what UFC was willing â or approved â to offer both Rousey and Carano.
âI went to (Dana White) and said, âDude, you always say that Iâm the best fighter you ever worked with. Like, reward me for it. Donât punish me for being easy to work with. Give me the best deal you ever gave anybody,ââ revealed Rousey during a recent interview with Jim Rome.
âHe came back and he like literally brought me a deal where I would make more per pay-per-view buy than anybody in history.â
âIt happened to go to the other side of when the ESPN deal and their pay-per-view model would be ending and they would be going to streaming,â added Rousey.
âThey didnât want to set a precedent of giving me the guaranteed money that I deserve because once I raise that tide it lifts all the boats.
âItâs in their best interest actually not to put on the best fights possible, but to spend as little as money as possible so that he can keep it.â
Once Rousey and Carano knew UFC would not be able to give them the type of money they were looking for the two women took their superfight to Paul and MVP. It wasnât for a lack of trying on UFCâs part, but still a bittersweet end to Rouseyâs storied journey with the promotion.
âIt no longer made sense for me to go over there because they didnât want to pay us the money that we deserve because then for the rest of the the time of the deal, theyâre going to have to pay everybody else more,â explained Rousey. âAnd so then I decided to look elsewhere.â
Itâs called a return on investment rousey, heâs not willing to pay you big bucks to fight because no one is willing to pay to watch you fight. Who wants to watch a comeback fight from a one trick pony who spent years in retirement because she realized she couldnât hack it? Danaâs probably doing her a favor not putting her up against gina
Why would anyone give them big money?
Who even is the target audience for this fight? Both women ended their careers with losses and itâs been a combined 27 years since theyâve last fought.
I disagree. When you say âpay to watch you fightâ, pay per view is over.
Rousey would bring eyes.
Carano has some big ol old fashioned slobber knockers too.
People will watch this. More will watch Rousey Carano then watched Volk vs Lopes.
Im watching this fight with binoculars just to see Ginas tiddies wiggle in 4K.
Casuals and Netflix subscribers. I guarantee over 1 million people watch it.
Closer to 10 million. One of the Paul fights reached 6 iirc
I hate her so, so bad.
She got knocked out twice in highlight fashion and then ran away.
At best, her prettiest girl in the trailer park trash talking is like bragging about winning a silver medal in the special Olympics.
Meh.
That aint a bad life.
The UFC Is a fucking joke in 2026.
They used to actually move the needle.
Now they are just a bunch of needledicks.
Oh I donât doubt that. I mean, 6 million people watched someone that most people havenât ever heard of climb a building recently but he only made in the 6 figures. People will watch it because itâs available, not because itâs necessarily a huge draw.
It was more in the context of the ufc paying Rousey huge guaranteed money. Theres no reason for the ufc to do that for a one off fight from what I can tell if thereâs no ppv buys to factor in.
I could very well be wrong though, maybe millions of new customers sign up and itâs a huge win for Netflix but I think most likely that most people who tune in already have the service.
The weigh inn is going to be packed
Youâre not wrong that people arent paying in the same sense as they were for ppvs, but the name of the game now is getting people to buy Paramount subscriptions. And while im not saying i wouldnt be interested to watch her fight, theres no way im buying a paramount subscription if shes the only big name on a card filled with nobodies, and im probably not the only one. Which brings us back to the original point, she was probably asking for a delusional amount of money that she isnt worth being paid for.
Fair point
Isnât the first month of netflix free?
She think sheâs writing the Iliad or something?
Could definitely see a lot of new subscriptions. Can essentially pay 8 bucks for the fight and month of Netflix content.
I like this line. Gina hadnât fought in 7 years already by 2016 lol.
Theyâve spent a combined 27 years away from the sport. Itâs pretty crazy that this is even a thing but good for them I guess.