Ronda Rousey’s prediction has come true: her May 16th fight against Gina Carano is now officially the most-watched MMA event in U.S. history.
Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) inaugural MMA event, streamed live on Netflix, featured Rousey vs. Carano as its headliner. The card also included notable bouts such as Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry and Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins.
MVP announced that the event garnered 12.4 million live viewers worldwide, with a peak of 17 million during the main event clash between Rousey and Carano. Domestically, the event averaged 9.3 million viewers in the United States, reaching a peak of 11.6 million during the Rousey vs. Carano fight. This achievement establishes a new U.S. viewership record for an MMA event. The prior record was held by the UFC’s debut on FOX in 2011, which featured Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez and drew 8.8 million viewers.
“We are immensely proud of what we accomplished with our partners at Netflix and deeply grateful to the athletes whose contributions made MVP MMA’s debut such a resounding success,” stated Nakisa Bidarian, co-founder of MVP. “We have witnessed an overwhelming surge of interest from investors, strategic partners, and fighters eager to be part of MVP and the future of MVP MMA. We are currently exploring all strategic avenues to make a significant impact in the MMA landscape moving forward, collaborating with a distribution partner like Netflix that shares our vision for creating lasting influence.”
In addition to its impressive viewership, the event generated a live gate of $2.2 million and achieved one billion impressions across Netflix’s global social media platforms.
Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano Officially Becomes the Most-Watched MMA Fight Event in U.S. History
English Translation:
Ronda Rousey’s prediction appears to have been accurate. The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion had anticipated that her May 16th fight against Gina Carano would become the most-watched MMA fight in history.
And it is now official.
Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions’ first MMA event was broadcast live on Netflix and headlined by Rousey vs. Carano, alongside two supporting main event bouts featuring Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry, and Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins.
According to the promotion, there were 12.4 million live viewers globally, peaking at 17 million during the Rousey vs. Carano main event. In the United States, the event averaged 9.3 million viewers with an 11.6 million peak during the main event, giving MVP MMA the new U.S. record for most-viewed MMA event. The previous record holder in the U.S. was 8.8 million views when Junior dos Santos and Cain Velasquez fought for the UFC’s debut on FOX in 2011.
“We’re incredibly proud of what was accomplished alongside our partners at Netflix and grateful to the athletes who helped make MVP MMA’s debut such a success,” Nakisa Bidarian, MVP co-founder said in the press release. “We’ve received an overwhelming amount of interest from investors, strategic partners, and fighters who want to be involved with MVP and the future of MVP MMA. We are currently reviewing all strategic options to do something very meaningful within MMA on a go-forward basis with a distribution partner like Netflix that shares our vision to create lasting impact.”
The event also drew a $2.2 million live gate and generated one billion impressions across Netflix’s global social channels.