Netflix Enters MMA Arena With Rousey-Carano Superfight, a Decade After the Dream Match Fell Apart

On a Tuesday morning that landed almost exactly five years after Gina Carano was fired from Disney's The Mandalorian over controversial social media posts, Netflix announced that the actress and mixed martial arts veteran will headline the streaming giant's first-ever live MMA broadcast — opposite none other than former UFC champion Ronda Rousey Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S..

The bout, scheduled for May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, will be promoted by Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) and streamed globally at no additional charge to Netflix subscribers . It is sanctioned under the Unified Rules of MMA, contested over five five-minute rounds using four-ounce gloves inside a hexagon cage — not the octagon associated with the UFC — and fought at featherweight (145 pounds) Netflix Un-Cancels Gina Carano for MMA Fight With Ronda Rouseyhollywoodreporter.com·SecondaryNetflix has another dream fight 10 years too late. Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano will go toe-to-toe in an MMA fight on Saturday, May 16; it will stream live on Netflix from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The rest of the card will be announced at a later date. The fight will take place inside a hexagon — not octagon like the UFC — cage. Rousey vs. Carano marks Netflix’s first-ever mixed martial arts event. It is also Most Valuable Promotions’ (MVP) first foray into the sport.. The rest of the fight card has yet to be announced, though MVP indicated additional bouts would follow in the coming weeks.

For combat sports observers, the matchup is the resolution of perhaps the longest-running "what if" in women's fighting. Talks for a Rousey-Carano bout surfaced as early as 2014, but collapsed over weight-class disagreements, scheduling conflicts, and the influence of UFC president Dana White . In the intervening decade, both women left the sport — Rousey for professional wrestling with WWE and a Hollywood career that included roles in Furious 7 and The Expendables 3, while Carano parlayed her fighting fame into acting appearances in Haywire, Fast & Furious 6, and Deadpool Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S..

Carano's path back to the spotlight, however, was far rockier. In February 2021, Lucasfilm dismissed her from The Mandalorian — where she had played the popular character Cara Dune across two seasons — after she posted an Instagram story comparing the political climate for American conservatives to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany Netflix Un-Cancels Gina Carano for MMA Fight With Ronda Rouseyhollywoodreporter.com·SecondaryNetflix has another dream fight 10 years too late. Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano will go toe-to-toe in an MMA fight on Saturday, May 16; it will stream live on Netflix from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The rest of the card will be announced at a later date. The fight will take place inside a hexagon — not octagon like the UFC — cage. Rousey vs. Carano marks Netflix’s first-ever mixed martial arts event. It is also Most Valuable Promotions’ (MVP) first foray into the sport.. The firing became a flashpoint in the broader culture war over speech and political expression in the entertainment industry, drawing condemnation from progressive advocacy groups who had long pushed for her removal and fierce support from conservatives who saw it as ideological persecution. Carano subsequently filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against Disney, which ended in a settlement whose terms were not disclosed, and pivoted to projects with Ben Shapiro's The Daily Wire Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S..

The Netflix deal effectively marks her rehabilitation in mainstream entertainment circles — a trajectory that would have seemed improbable even two years ago. "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 in a statement released Tuesday Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S.. "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."

Rousey, for her part, cast the event in historic terms. "Me and Gina Carano are gonna throw down in the biggest superfight in women's combat sport history," she said, calling the partnership with MVP and Netflix a moment "for all MMA fans past, present and future" Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S.. Rousey, now 39, last fought professionally in December 2016, when she lost to Amanda Nunes in 48 seconds at UFC 207. Before that defeat, she had compiled a 12-1 record with nine submissions and three knockouts, becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo and the first female fighter signed by the UFC Netflix Un-Cancels Gina Carano for MMA Fight With Ronda Rouseyhollywoodreporter.com·SecondaryNetflix has another dream fight 10 years too late. Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano will go toe-to-toe in an MMA fight on Saturday, May 16; it will stream live on Netflix from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The rest of the card will be announced at a later date. The fight will take place inside a hexagon — not octagon like the UFC — cage. Rousey vs. Carano marks Netflix’s first-ever mixed martial arts event. It is also Most Valuable Promotions’ (MVP) first foray into the sport..

Carano's fighting record stands at 7-1, with her sole loss coming against Cris Cyborg in 2009 — a bout that was the first major MMA main event headlined by two women Netflix Un-Cancels Gina Carano for MMA Fight With Ronda Rouseyhollywoodreporter.com·SecondaryNetflix has another dream fight 10 years too late. Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano will go toe-to-toe in an MMA fight on Saturday, May 16; it will stream live on Netflix from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The rest of the card will be announced at a later date. The fight will take place inside a hexagon — not octagon like the UFC — cage. Rousey vs. Carano marks Netflix’s first-ever mixed martial arts event. It is also Most Valuable Promotions’ (MVP) first foray into the sport.. She has not competed in a sanctioned fight in nearly 17 years, making this among the longest comebacks in combat sports history.

The age and ring rust of both fighters will inevitably draw scrutiny. Neither woman has competed in MMA since the mid-2010s at the latest, and Carano will be 43 by fight night. Critics of Netflix's live-event strategy, which began with the much-hyped but widely mocked Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson boxing match in November 2024, may see this as another celebrity spectacle prioritizing star power over athletic merit. The Paul-Tyson card drew a reported 65 million concurrent streams but also attracted criticism for pitting a 58-year-old Tyson against a fighter 31 years his junior, with the bout widely perceived as an exhibition dressed up as a legitimate contest Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S..

Defenders counter that Netflix is building a new model for combat sports distribution — one that leverages its 283 million global subscribers to bypass traditional pay-per-view economics. Gabe Spitzer, Netflix's vice president of sports, framed the event as a natural escalation. "After the record-breaking success in boxing, we wanted our first MMA event to be truly legendary," he said. "These are more than just athletes — they are generational stars — and having them headline our MMA debut at the Intuit Dome is a defining moment for us" Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S..

The broader competitive context adds another layer of strategic significance. Netflix is currently locked in a bidding war to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, competing against David Ellison's Paramount — the company that holds exclusive U.S. rights to UFC broadcasts through its partnership with the promotion Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S.. A successful MMA debut would strengthen Netflix's pitch that it can rival traditional sports broadcasters across multiple combat disciplines, potentially reshaping how the sport is distributed and monetized globally.

MVP co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian positioned the event as both a business milestone and a tribute to the sport's history. "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," they said in a joint statement. "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" Netflix Moves Into MMA With Ronda Rousey & Gina Carano Fightdeadline.com·SecondaryNetflix is getting into the MMA world and is staging a fight between two of sports most successful female competitors. The streamer is launching a fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in LA. It marks Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast and comes at an interesting time. The streamer is currently in a battle to acquire to Warner Bros. Discovery against David Ellison’s Paramount, which is the exclusive home to UFC in the U.S..

Whether the fight delivers competitive drama or merely nostalgia, its cultural significance is harder to dismiss. For Carano, it represents a return to the stage that first made her famous, facilitated by a platform that, like Disney before it, must weigh the commercial value of controversy against the sensitivities of its audience. For Netflix, it is a test of whether live combat sports can become a repeatable franchise rather than a one-off curiosity. And for fans who spent a decade debating who would win, May 16 at the Intuit Dome will finally provide an answer — even if the question has long since changed.