Photo Credit: Melina Pizano / Getty Images for Netflix
Los Angeles, CA – March 10, 2026 – Today at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California, former UFC champion and Olympic medalist Ronda Rousey (12-2, 9 Submissions, 3 KOs) and combat sports trailblazer Gina Carano (7-1, 1 Submission, 3 KOs) met face to face ahead of their upcoming fight. This event will be professionally sanctioned under the Unified Rules of MMA and contested over five, 5-minute rounds using 4oz gloves, inside a hexagon cage. It will take place on Saturday, May 16, at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, CA, and will stream live globally, only on Netflix at no additional cost to its 300+ million members.
Rousey and Carano were also joined by former MMA heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou (18–3, 13 KOs, 4 submissions) and Brazil’s Philipe Lins (18–5, 9 KOs, 4 submissions), as MVP and Netflix announced yesterday that the pair will face off in a colossal bout for MVP’s Rousey vs. Carano. The bout marks Ngannou’s highly anticipated return to professional MMA competition following his crossover into global boxing events and his dominant PFL Championship victory in 2024. Ngannou vs. Lins will be a professionally-sanctioned heavyweight bout under the Unified Rules of MMA with five, 5-minute rounds using 4oz gloves. Ngannou vs. Lins joins a historic moment in combat sports as MVP’s inaugural MMA event and Netflix’s first-ever live MMA broadcast. More fights on the card will be announced at a later date.
Hosted by renowned combat sports journalist Ariel Helwani, the fighters and MVP cofounder Jake Paul shared their thoughts on the high-stakes matchups ahead. See quotes below and view the full press conference on MVP’s YouTube channel HERE or Netflix’s YouTube channel HERE.
Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster.com.
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Visit the official Netflix page and click ‘Remind Me’ to ensure you’re notified on Saturday, May 16th when the action begins. Visit Tudum.com for up-to-date information about the event.
RONDA ROUSEY QUOTES
On coming back to MMA:
I never thought I would come back. It didn’t cross my mind at all.
On how teaching her coach, Ricky Lundell, in judo brought her back to MMA:
I had put a lot of walls around my heart when it came to martial arts and everything like that. I was forced to retire over some neurological issues that I didn’t really have any clarity about. It just hurt to be around it. When he asked me to teach him, I was like, “Ok, fine. Come to my house.” Once I started getting deep into it again and explaining things, and getting back to it, it made me fall in love with martial arts again. It reminded me of the joy that it gave me from the very beginning.
On her journey to this fight with Gina Carano:
Once I found that love again, and I saw her [Gina Carano] not doing well, I was like, you know what we both need to reclaim our bodily identity together and rewrite our own ending together. That night, I reached out to her, and it’s been such a journey to get here, and so many obstacles. So many people tried to get between us and insert their own agenda. We went from barely knowing each other and respecting each other to being like, “You know what, we are going to fight to fight each other.” I told her I will train you to fight me if I have to. Luckily, I didn’t have to do that.
On how this fight has evolved to challenge the landscape of mixed martial arts:
I thought it was just about me finding my love for the sport and just about her [Gina Carano] getting back to finding that fire and that light in her eyes that we all fell in love with, but it’s become much more than that. Now it’s become about changing the entire landscape of the sport and challenging the monolith that the UFC has become. Of course, I just wanted to do something, and I ended up having to change the world, but you know what, that’s the way we do it.
On doing this fight with MVP and Netflix:
I’m so happy that we’re here, and I’m so thankful that Gina trusted me. When it wasn’t going to work out with the UFC, I was like, “We can do this on our own. We don’t need them. We don’t need anyone.” She said I’m going to follow your lead and trust you. That’s what led us to MVP and to Netflix and to us sitting here in front of the Intuit Dome about to put on the most-viewed MMA fight of all time.
On why Rousey vs. Carano did not work out with the UFC:
I knew that we could promote this on our own and that would probably be the most lucrative way to go about it for us, but I have such love and respect for Dana [White] that I wanted to bring this to him first. I said, “I can do this on my own, but I would rather fight for you than fight for me. Just make it make sense for me.” Originally, we were going to do it on New Year’s, and it was going to be the last fight under the pay-per-view structure, and he offered me the best pay-per-view structure ever. I was so grateful, but then Gina said she needed more time to get in the best shape possible. She wanted me to fight the best version of herself. I think that was fate. It was meant to be. It was meant to push us into the other side.
On working with MVP in the future:
He [Nakisa Bidarian] definitely would like some more fights out of me, but I told him, “I can’t be your Conor [McGregor], but I’ll be your Dana [White].” And he said, “We’ll see how this goes first.”
GINA CARANO QUOTES
On why she is returning to MMA:
Obviously, the motivation is that Ronda personally asked me. She was quite the charmer. She asked me politely. She thanked me for so much. She inspired me. Other jobs kind of came up during this, but nothing was as important as this.
On coming back to fight Ronda Rousey:
To share this moment with her and to be the one that she would come back for, she’s my one as well. We get to live once, and this makes me feel so alive, so I’m just super grateful for the opportunity.
On how long this fight has been in the works:
I first got confronted with it from Dana White in December 2024. For about a year, we’ve been talking about it.
On talks with Dana White:
Dana gave me a call, and he said, “Ronda’s pregnant and she wants to fight, and the only one she wants to fight is you.” At that time, I was extremely sick in my body and had a couple of rough years, like I think a lot of us did have. At that time, I was like, ” You know what, absolutely,” and it just became more and more real as 2025 went on.
On today’s press conference:
It is pretty incredible and surreal to be here today. It’s healing. It’s exciting. It’s everything I could have hoped for. I didn’t know I needed this so bad.
On the duality of Ronda Rousey’s personality:
She’s like wagging her tail, and she’s charming, but at the same time, she wants to rip my arm off and shove it up my a**.
On never saying she was retired and returning to MMA:
I never actually said I was retired. It’s just something that I just don’t think you ever know what I’m going to do. You can never predict that. I never rule anything off the table, which is probably why I’m sitting right here right now.
FRANCIS NGANNOU QUOTES
On leaving the PFL:
This was an ongoing process for a couple of months. I think we’ve been in this position since probably January, when I found out I wasn’t going to have another fight in the PFL. Then I started to look for other options.
On MVP’s Nakisa Bidarian’s initial fight offer to fight Ricardo “Rico” Verhoeven:
Originally, it was a big name. I mean no disrespect to Philipe Lins, who is an even more dangerous opponent. But originally, it was Rico [Ricardo “Rico” Verhoeven]. He [Nakisa Bidarian] called me and was like what do you think about fighting Rico in the MMA. I’m like damn that sounds good. I never thought about it, but I thought it was a good opportunity.
On Philipe Lins becoming his opponent:
Rico got signed for the Usyk fight, so that wasn’t an option. Then we were looking for a replacement, and then Philipe came out to be the best option.
On the future of his career:
I still have a lot of time in front of me. I still enjoy this. I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been.
On fighters maintaining independence:
At the end of the day, we are independent contractors. We are not employees. We are not working for anybody. We sign contracts. We fight, we move on.
On fighters advocating for their worth:
I think 3 or 4 years ago I was saying this out loud and I say this not only to Jon Jones, but to anyone out there who might be in the same situation, because I think most people are in the same situation. We’re not employees, we’re independent contractors. We should be able to get what we deserve, and in case we don’t get it, we should have the right to go look for another option… I’m happy to be out of there.
On potentially fighting Jake Paul:
I’m not interested in fighting Jake Paul; I’m interested in beating his ass.
PHILIPE LINS QUOTES
On fighting Francis Ngannou:
When my manager called me and said you’re going to fight Francis Ngannou live on Netflix. I said, “Yeah, I’m on. We have a deal. Send the contract.”
On leaving UFC with a four-fight winning streak:
I took two years off and asked God to give me another opportunity. He sent this big opportunity to me to fight on the first MMA event on Netflix with so many legends here like Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano, and Francis Ngannou.
On the opportunity to face Ngannou on Netflix:
This is the biggest opportunity of my MMA career. This is amazing, and I’m feeling blessed.
On what a victory over Francis means to him:
All respect to Francis, but one victory over him is going to put my name in MMA history forever. So it’s a masterpiece and all respect to him again, to his history in the sport, but May 16 live on Netflix I’m going to shock the world.
JAKE PAUL QUOTES
On a future fight vs. Francis Ngannou:
I’m down. I’ve always been down. You [Francis Ngannou] were the option before Anthony Joshua, and you ran like a duck.
On what this card means to him:
It’s very surreal. This is the MVP way. Just four and a half years into building this company with Nakisa [Bidarian], and we’re doing the first-ever MMA event live on Netflix with MMA legends. The future is looking very bright.
On MVP’s future in MMA:
MMA is in a weird position right now, and it’s the wild west. I believe we have a massive opportunity here to disrupt the whole space and to put fighters first and get them the pay they deserve, the platform that they deserve. I believe the UFC is dying, and MVP is here to take over.
Photo Credit: Esther Lin / Most Valuable Promotions
