Ronda Rousey described next month’s comeback fight against Gina Carano as the biggest mixed martial arts fight of all time and said it would be a defining moment for the sport.
Rousey, the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo after winning bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games, was the first female fighter to be inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame. She successfully defended her bantamweight title six times before being stunned by Holly Holm in 2015.
“This is not only the biggest women’s fight of all time… This is something that’s going to happen once in a lifetime in MMA, is the beginning of something big,” Rousey said at a news conference Wednesday.
The 39-year-old said the fight was not “nostalgia bait or a money grab” but pointed to the commercial success of Mike Tyson’s fight against Jake Paul as proof that fight fans are still interested in seeing big names return to the ring.
The fight between Tyson and former YouTuber Paul in November 2024 drew a worldwide audience of 108 million viewers, making it the most watched sporting event of all time on a streaming platform.
Rousey’s bout with Carano marks boxing promotion MVP’s MMA debut and will stream live on Netflix on May 16.
Rousey also fired back at current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, who called her irrelevant on a podcast.
“Gina is so relevant that she’s the whole reason the 145lb division even exists. I’m so relevant that the only reason Kayla has a job in the UFC is because of me,” Rousey said.
“She has the charisma of a wet towel and will always be in someone else’s shadow. The next time she wants to speak, she should look down at her feet and consider who paved the path she is walking on.”
Regarding fighter pay, Rousey confirmed that the minimum purse for any fighter on the MVP card is $40,000, and that was “something the UFC can’t say.”
For 43-year-old Carano, who hasn’t fought since a 2009 loss to Cris Cyborg, the experience felt different this time around.
“I really feel peace and excitement about it. It’s not anxiety, it’s excitement – and it’s new to me.”
In the co-main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou meets Philipe Lins, while Nate Diaz meets BKFC’s Mike Perry at welterweight.
