Most Valuable Promotions is preparing to make a major statement in MMA with Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano headlining a Netflix card on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. Co-founder Nakisa Bidarian says the promotion's long-term involvement in the sport hinges on the success of that event.
The card features Rousey returning to competition for the first time in 10 years against Carano, who last fought in 2009. Former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou faces Philipe Lins on the card, while Mike Perry takes on Nate Diaz in another featured bout.
MVP's MMA Strategy Depends on Netflix Card
Bidarian told Sports Business Journal that the promotion's future in MMA depends heavily on the May 16 results. "I think a lot of it depends on May 16th, right?" Bidarian said. "We're putting a lot of fire power, star power, distribution to the event."
"If it works, and I'm very confident it will work, yes — MVP will be involved in MMA over the long term," he added.
The promotion, headed by Jake Paul and Bidarian, has primarily focused on boxing to this point. MVP produced Paul's fight against Mike Tyson, which peaked at over 100 million viewers on Netflix.
Blockbuster Live Events Model
Bidarian clarified that MVP won't compete directly with the UFC's weekly event model. Instead, the promotion plans to focus on what it calls "blockbuster live events" or BLEs featuring marquee matchups like Rousey vs. Carano.
"[Netflix is] really a difference maker in being able to stand up a product that can be viewed as top-tier distribution and exposure for the athletes, so May 16th will be tell-tale in terms of what's possible," Bidarian said. "I'm confident that we will have one of the, if not the most viewed, MMA event in history, just like I was confident that Paul-Tyson would break streaming records in the U.S. versus any form of content."
Netflix has over 325 million subscribers globally, giving the Rousey vs. Carano card potential to become the most-watched MMA event in history. The streaming platform has already aired several MVP events including Paul vs. Tyson and Paul vs. Anthony Joshua.
Bidarian said MVP has received significant interest from fighters wanting to compete on future cards. "We've had no shortage of interested athletes reaching out to us to be involved," he noted.
"This to me is a crossover mainstream event," Bidarian said. "And for us to be able to add the caliber of star power, plus true top-tier current contenders ... it's a great card that we're proud of and we think we'll be very successful come Saturday, May 16th."
