Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano will fight each other next week, a matchup that pairs two of the sport’s most recognizable names in a women’s featherweight bout at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. The fight is set for Saturday, May 16, and will stream live exclusively on Netflix.
The bout lands on the first MMA show organized by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, with the main card due to begin at 6 p.m. PT, 8 p.m. CT and 9 p.m. ET on Saturday, or 2 a.m. BST on Sunday. The main event is expected later in the night, around 8 p.m. PT, 10 p.m. CT and 11 p.m. ET, or 4 a.m. BST on Sunday.
Rousey, 39, last fought in 2016, when she was knocked out by Amanda Nunes and then turned away from mixed martial arts. She later moved into professional wrestling with WWE. Carano, 44, has not competed since 2009 and built a new profile in acting after starring in Star Wars' Mandalorian show.
The card adds more than just nostalgia. Francis Ngannou is also scheduled to take on Philipe Lins, while Nate Diaz and Mike Perry are set to square off on the same night. For existing Netflix subscribers, the event will be available at no additional cost, making the Rousey vs. Carano matchup part of a broader push to put combat sports in front of a mass streaming audience.
The contrast is stark: one fighter has spent the past years on the wrestling stage, the other in Hollywood, and both now return to an MMA setting after long layoffs. That makes the outcome difficult to read and the stakes more than a simple comeback story, because neither woman is walking in with recent cage form behind her.
