The return to MMA of Ronda Rousey after a decade away and the announcement of the return of Conor McGregor after five years away happened in the same night, perhaps not coincidentally. Rousey “followed the method that defined her entire career ... finding an arm and taking it home in a heartbeat,” to stop Gina Carano in 17 seconds of the first round during MVP’s first MMA show and the debut of MMA of Netflix. It was Rousey’s ninth career win of less than a minute (CBSSPORTS.com, 5/16). As quickly as she returned, Rousey is gone again. Rousey: “There’s no way I could’ve ended it better than this. I want to make some more babies and I gotta get cooking.” Four of the five bouts on Netflix ended in the first round with the other fight going to Round 2 (SBJ).
MVP’s Nakisa Bidarian said viewership numbers should be available Monday -- it is up to Netflix to release them -- but he seemed bullish on the debut effort during the postfight news conferences. Bidarian: “Between visibility to market, my understanding of accounting of the UFC, and Ronda Rousey being the face of our promotion inside and outside the cage, we feel like we have a good shot if tonight works. Guess what? It really worked. ... We have a special sauce that we’ve created with this company and we’re looking forward to seeing what fighters want to work with us and hopefully it’s Netflix for MMA” (X, 5/17).
UFC President & CEO Dana White announced McGregor’s return on Instagram from cageside at UFC Fight Night 276. McGregor will face Max Holloway on July 11 at UFC 329 in Las Vegas as part of International Fight Week. McGregor’s last appearance was a TKO loss to Dustin Poirer on July 10, 2021 (ESPN.com, 5/17). The announcement came just as former UFC champion Francis Ngannou was walking to the cage on the MVP show. MVP co-founder Jake Paul said, “Little insecure boys trying to piggyback off of our event and try to put some news over top of us. It’s not going to work, buddy.” Bidarian took a more measured view, noting a possible future matchup between Paul and McGregor. “Hopefully these two run it in boxing and MMA and we shatter their records all over again” (MMA JUNKIE, 5/17). MMA Fighting reporter Damon Martin called White’s move “classic Dana” and the timing of his announcement a “foregone conclusion” that had been in the works for weeks. (X, 5/16).
