This bout will mark “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey’s first appearance under MMA rules since December 30, 2016. In a rare Friday night UFC event, Rousey fought Amanda Nunes for the promotion’s women’s bantamweight championship.
The final fight of the 2016 slate from the No. 1 MMA promotion in the world ended on a sour note for Rousey and her camp. Although the fight was five rounds of five minutes each in the legendary Octagon at T-Mobile Arena, Nunes finished Rousey within the first minute of the first round. The loss dropped her to 12-2 in MMA and 6-2 under the UFC banner.
Ronda Rousey Part of a larger war on May 16th
Although the primary match Rousey will appear in is against Gina Carano, this is only part of a full-scale fight for her. Earlier Monday, Most Valuable Promotions released an episode of MVP Uncut regarding the announcement of February 17.
In the video, Ronda Rousey gave her take on MVP to promote her fight against Carano on May 16, a five-round fight of five minutes per round in the women’s featherweight division.
“It’s a dream fight and a super fight and all that,” Ronda Rousey said of her fight against Gina Carano, “but I feel like the story and everything behind it isn’t just this fight. A big part of it is MVP versus UFC. That’s what I’m going for really hard, in the trenches.”
Rousey vs. Carano Good news for women’s MMA
Ronda Rousey believes her fight against Carano in the second half of May will ultimately provide some benefit to Dana White’s organization. She explained to MVP co-founder and CEO Nikisa Bidarian why this is the case.
“They suffer from a lack of competition,” she continued. “They can’t just file a class action lawsuit every few years, [it’s] the costs of doing business. I’m really trying to help Dana. If anyone is groomed to be his student, it is me, and I think I would be the favorite opponent he has ever had.”
Ronda Rousey on why MVP promoting fights is the right move
Despite Rousey’s friendship with the UFC CEO, she thinks MVP made the best decision by scheduling her bout with Carano for this spring. She pointed to Jake Paul’s 2024 exhibition boxing match with Mike Tyson as the rationale.
“Tyson vs. Paul was, what, the most watched fight ever?”, Rousey reflected. “108 million views, and I was like, ‘Let’s do it!’ Nikisa said, ‘This is such a great idea.’”
It should be noted that Ronda Rousey approached UFC CEO Dana White to discuss the possibility of fighting under that banner again, something she revealed on February 17. Sports center interview.
“It didn’t exactly work out with the UFC, but it led us here today,” she told ESPN last week.
Bidarian touches base with Netflix and Rousey’s thoughts on Fighter Pay
As has been the case with several high-profile combat sports events in recent years, Netflix will feature Ronda Rousey’s return to MMA for the first time in nearly a decade. “Rowdy” recalled Nikisa Bidarian’s process to get the streaming giant on board for this match and gave her thoughts on Netflix broadcasting the fight.
“He said, ‘I’m going to contact Netflix and we’re going to make it happen,’” she said. “I’m like, ‘Okay.’ He was fantastic and really great to work with. I think what I like about Netflix is that they just want to put on the best fight possible.
The UFC legend also discussed the issue of wages in MMA.
“What I like about MVP is that they want to make sure the fighters are compensated as fairly as possible,” she continued. “I’m so grateful to the UFC and all the opportunities they gave me. I made zero as an Olympian, but the UFC allowed me to retire comfortably.”
Final thoughts
While Rousey’s return to the cage will have a final outcome immediately after the final bell, the fight between MVP and the UFC will not be decided until after the promotion’s respective events are held.
We have one simple question to ask as we sign off: Do you want to watch this fight? The answer is yours and yours alone.
#Ronda #Rousey #fights #pivotal #battles