
Ronda Rousey is set to face Gina Carano in a Netflix MMA event on May 16, 2026, after UFC declined to host the fight. The card will also feature other former UFC fighters like Nate Diaz and Mike Perry.
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INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA - MAY 14: Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey face off during the Press Conference for Netflix's Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano at Intuit Dome on May 14, 2026 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix) | Getty Images for Netflix
Former UFC womenâs bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, tried to shop her Gina Carano comeback fight to UFC, but Dana White and Co. donât have pay-per-view (PPV) points to barter for high-price headliners, so a scorned Rousey took her talents (and her âConvictionâ) to Jake Paul and MVP.
Along for the ride are former UFC fighters who are no longer welcome inside the Octagon, like Francis Ngannou, as well as veteran bruisers on the downside of their careers like Nate Diaz and Mike Perry. The rest of the card is essentially a motley crew of recognizable MMA combatants .
The Rousey vs Carano fight is scheduled for May 16, 2026.
Ronda Rousey left the UFC because Dana White and the UFC could not provide the pay-per-view points she desired for the fight.
The fight card includes former UFC fighters like Nate Diaz and Mike Perry, along with other recognizable MMA combatants.
Ronda Rousey collaborated with Jake Paul and MVP after the UFC declined to host her fight with Gina Carano.


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Sometimes, those are the fighters who give you the most bang for your buck.
In this case, the only bucks youâll need to part with are the ones already being sacrificed for your Netflix subscription. The streaming giant is testing the MMA waters with âRousey vs. Caranoâ on May 16 at Intuit Dome in Los Angeles and could order a second round of action if âRowdyâ can reach these numbers.
Does she still have the goods? Letâs talk about it.
UFC CEO Dana White has long insisted that Ronda Rousey is the biggest star that UFC ever had, though you would expect that kind of praise from a âgood fucking friendâ like White. This raises an interesting question and one that has been debated for years: does UFC make the stars, or do the stars make UFC? Itâs been difficult to find out, thanks to the ironclad contracts from UFC legal. By the time a top star is available to compete outside the Octagon, theyâre usually too old or too washed up for anyone to care.
Nate Diaz was supposedly a âTop 5 PPV drawâ for UFC, even without Conor McGregor, but still managed to bankrupt Fanmio with his stillborn PPV fight against Jorge Masvidal back in 2024. The aforementioned Ngannou was shipped to PFL, fought one time, and got everyone involved with his signing fired from the company.
Rousey is helped by the fact that her comeback is on Netflix and tops a fight card that has enough recognizable names to warrant a curiosity viewing. That said, I hope matchmakers are ashamed of themselves for booking Ngannou against Philipe Lins, a former light heavyweight who turns 41 in August. Robelis Despaigne, a knockout artist with an Olympic bronze medal, is being wasted on the 42 year-old Junior dos Santos. Where are all the moral watchdogs who continually pissed on Jake Paul for cherrypicking older and smaller boxers?
Yâall are real quiet right now.
Anyway, letâs get back to the headlining attraction who ran away from MMA after getting knocked out by a power-punching Brazilian. Iâm referring to Gina Carano, who doesnât get nearly the same criticism as Rousey despite a similar exit strategy. Thatâs because Rousey, who is without question an amazing athlete and trailblazer for womenâs MMA, spent most of her career acting like a complete asshole.
Perhaps booking her against Americaâs sweetheart is a subtle way of using the old pro wrestling strategy of hero versus villain. I mean, nobody expects Carano to win, right? The former American Gladiator and unlikely movie star is now 44 and has not competed since 2009. In addition, the caliber of competition she was facing in Strikeforce, Cyborg notwithstanding, was nowhere near the level of Rousey â even a Rousey 10 years removed from the sport.
Caranoâs last victory came over Kelly Kobold-Schmitz in late 2008, the card that killed EliteXC.
I would argue the best matched fight on the entire âRousey vs. Caranoâ card is Diaz vs. Perry, two brain-dead, pot-smoking zombies who will slug each other in the face, exchange taunts (middle fingers, mean mugs, etc.), and bleed profusely as the crowd roars. Thatâs not MMA, thatâs bar fighting, but isnât that what most fans want? They want to watch Ngannou punt Lins into the fourth row and they want to see Diaz and Perry bathed in blood.
Thatâs why you hear a cacophony of boos and jeers every time a âcrotch snifferâ shoots for a takedown.
On a much brighter note, Iâm excited to see Salahdine Parnasse compete against Kenny Cross in the middle of the main card. If youâre a UFC fanboy, and thereâs no reason not to be since the only competition is PFL and ONE (how the hell do they stay in business?), you might not be familiar with Parnasse, the 28 year-old Frenchman who terrorized the ranks of KSW in Poland and seems destined for UFC at some point in the very near future.
Check out our dedicated preview of the 22-2 lightweight right here.
Cross you may remember from Dana Whiteâs âContender Seriesâ back in summer 2020, where he defeated Kevin Syler by decision but failed to secure a UFC contract. In the years that followed, âThe Bossâ racked up a 6-1 record with three finishes, but his lone loss during that span â a 2023 submission to Killys Mota under the Bellator MMA banner â sticks out like a sore thumb. The best way for Cross to regain some of his earlier momentum is to upset Parnasse.
With that in mind, letâs pick our main card winners.
Ronda Rousey finally got her dream fight against Gina Carano and didnât have to fight her at light heavyweight in someoneâs backyard. I donât really buy all that crap about âRowdyâ fighting her idol, I think this is a thinly-veiled attempt to finish her career in the win column against an opponent she knows she can beat. Carano is a tough fighter and a solid brawler but does not have the skill, the experience, or the athleticism to defeat Rousey. Iâm sure âConvictionâ will land a few good shots and try her damndest, but without the boxing acumen of Holly Holm or the knockout power of Amanda Nunes, she wonât be able to keep the Olympian at bay. Sooner or later, this fight is going to the floor and from there, itâs academic.
Rousey: -600
Carano: +425
This is going to be a fun fight but the winner all depends on how well Diaz uses his height and reach. Perry was a solid offensive wrestler in his UFC days but I donât think the ground is a place he wants to go with Diaz â a lesson Conor McGregor learned the hard way at UFC 196. Besides, once youâre crowned âThe King of Violenceâ youâre kinda stuck with that designation. Anything less than all-out war would be viewed in the same light as this not-so-baddest win at UFC 326. Diaz is the better boxer, which isnât saying much after watching him get tooled by Jake Paul in summer 2023, but Perry is more savage in his attacks. We can only hope that Diaz, susceptible to cuts like his brother Nick, does not get busted open before they can cross the finish line.
Diaz: +165
Perry: -190
Philipe Lins, a former light heavyweight, has not fought in over two years and will jump off the couch to throw hands with one of the most devastating punchers in the history of the heavyweight division. Lins is also 40 years old and got knocked out by Tanner Boser at UFC Vegas 4. How long this fight lasts all depends on how aggressive Ngannou plans to be once the bell rings in the âCity of Angels.â Heâll either decapitate Lins with a bulldozer bum-rush like he did against Jairzinho Rozenstruik at UFC 249, or take âMonstroâ down and pound him into dust like he did against Renan Ferreira at PFL: âBattle of the Giants.â Realistically, âThe Predatorâ can do whatever he wants in this fight for the simple reason that the undersized Lins has no way to stop him.
Ngannou: -1400
Lins: +800
Parnasse is a versatile fighter who can grapple just as well as he can strike. While heâs compiled a fantastic record, heâs also been fighting lower level competition in KSW and has yet to prove himself on the big stage. To wit, I donât think anyone is impressed by a victory over Hyram Rodriguez, who boasts 43 professional losses. Parnasse will be at a height and reach disadvantage for this contest so his movement will be key, as will his grappling. Cross has been submitted in all four of his losses, giving the Frenchman a pretty clear path to victory. I donât want to just overlook âThe Bossâ because the MMA community has a shiny new toy, heâs a tough out for any competitor and like Parnasse, heâs well rounded and experienced. If Diaz and Perry werenât already fighting on this card, you could make an argument for Parnasse vs. Cross being an early contender for âFight of the Night.â
Parnasse: -1800
Cross: +900
Robelis Despaigne has the ground game of a newborn calf, which is why he was defeated by the unheralded Austen Lane at UFC Vegas 99. That said, he can knockout anyone on the planet, including former UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos. The outcome of this fight will depend on how badly âCiganoâ wants to win. The Brazilian is a good boxer with knockout power, but why risk it? Dos Santos used his wrestling in victories over Shane Carwin, Mark Hunt, and Stipe Miocic, among others, and I would expect him to use it here, as well. Itâs up to the âBad Boyâ â who is coming off seven straight wins with six knockouts in Karate Combat â to land the kill shot before Dos Santos can drag this fight to the floor, assuming he wants to bring it there at all. Iâm not sure why he wouldnât; but then again, Sean Strickland also decided he was a good enough striker to stand with Alex Pereira, and we all know how that went.
Dos Santos: -350
Despaigne: +285
Hereâs a bonus quote from MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian:
Remember kids, if âRousey vs. Caranoâ flops, itâs all your fault.