Netflix Gets Into the MMA Hexagon With Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano in May

 

Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano are joining forces with Jake Paul to produce one of the biggest fights of the summer. In a stunning announcement Tuesday, the two women's MMA pioneers have agreed to face off in a May 16 superfight atop the first MMA card aired live on Netflix.

Rousey vs. Carano is expected to be contested as a five-round featherweight bout — 145 pounds — at Los Angeles' Intuit Dome. Paul's Most Valuable Promotions will promote the historic card.

Rousey, 39, is one of the biggest draws and most influential athletes in MMA history. An Olympic medalist in judo who parlayed her gifts into a lightning-in-the-bottle run as a prizefighter, she famously played an integral role in UFC CEO Dana White opening the doors for women to compete in the UFC. After capturing the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title in 2012, Rousey (12-2) then marched her belt into the UFC and defended it six consecutive times from 2013-15, becoming one of the most famous athletes on the planet in the process.

Rousey's widely-publicized reign ended with back-to-back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes, after which she retired from MMA and transitioned into professional wrestling with the WWE.

Rousey became the first women to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2018.

Carano, 43, was the biggest star in women's MMA history prior to Rousey's arrival. In 2007, her and Julie Kedzie competed in the first-ever women's fight televised on Showtime. Two years later, Carano (7-1) made history again when her and Cris Cyborg became the first women to headline a major MMA event, with Carano losing via first-round TKO in their lightweight championship bout.

Carano retired from MMA following her lone career defeat and transitioned into acting, securing roles in numerous film franchises such as "Fast & Furious," Marvel and "Star Wars," among others.

Rousey and Carano have been linked together as a veritable dream matchup since the beginning of Rousey's UFC championship reign. The UFC made numerous high-profile attempts to woo Carano back to MMA for the blockbuster bout, most notably in 2014, however those attempts proved to be in vain.

But after both women began teasing near-simultaneous returns to training in the latter half of 2025, Carano's coach — John Wood of Syndicate MMA — revealed to Uncrowned in December that Carano did indeed appear to be testing the waters for a comeback.