Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano fight predictions, odds, undercard and expert picks for Netflix event

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It's rare to see a high-profile American mixed martial arts event without UFC on the marquee, but that is the case on Saturday as Most Valuable Promotions dips a toe in the sport with MVP MMA. The event is headlined by a longtime "What if?" matchup between female MMA pioneers Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey.

Carano, 44, was a star in Strikeforce and Elite XC in the mid to late 2000s. After winning her first seven professional fights, Carano met Cris Cyborg in a superfight in 2009, where she lost by first-round TKO.

Carano has not fought since that 2009 loss, taking roles in Hollywood before her ascent as an actress was halted by controversial social media statements equating disagreements over political beliefs with the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany. The controversy led to Carano losing her role on the Star Wars show "The Mandalorian" and being forced into roles in low-budget films such as "Terror on the Prairie" and "My Son Hunter."

In many ways, Carano wrote the blueprint for Rousey's MMA career, though Rousey had an established high-level combat sports career prior to entering the sport. Rousey was an accomplished judo player, taking bronze in the 2008 Summer Olympics.

Rousey was an immediate force in MMA, with the first six fights of her career ending in the first round, five of them within one minute. Four of those fights took place in the Strikeforce cage before Rousey signed a UFC contract, with UFC CEO Dana White admitting that he changed his tune from his longtime opposition to women fighting in the promotion entirely because of Rousey, who was already gaining significant mainstream attention.

Rousey rattled off six UFC wins, with only Miesha Tate taking her past the first round and another three fights ending in less than a minute.

In 2015, Rousey suffered a shocking upset when she was significantly outstruck by Holly Holm before Holm ended the fight with a head kick. A 48-second TKO loss to Amanda Nunes came the following year, and Rousey retired from competition.

Just like Carano, Rousey paired massive mainstream popularity with unforced PR errors, such as Rousey posting a video to social media in 2013 suggesting the horrific shooting the year prior that resulted in 26 deaths at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut was a hoax featuring "crisis actors." Rousey .