April 15 (Reuters) – Ronda Rousey described next month’s comeback bout against Gina Carano as the biggest mixed martial arts fight of all time and said it would be a pivotal moment for the sport.
Rousey, the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal in judo after claiming bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games, was the first female fighter inducted into the UFC’s Hall of Fame. She successfully defended her bantamweight title six times before being stunned by Holly Holm in 2015.
“This is not just the biggest women’s fight of all time … This is something that’s going to happen once in a lifetime in MMA, is the beginning of something huge,” Rousey told a press conference on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old said the fight was not “nostalgia bait or a cash grab” but pointed to the commercial success of Mike Tyson’s fight against Jake Paul as evidence that fight fans are still interested in watching big names return to the ring.
The bout between Tyson and former YouTuber Paul in November 2024 drew a worldwide audience of 108 million viewers, making it the most-watched sporting event ever on a streaming platform.
Rousey’s fight with Carano marks boxing promotion company MVP’s debut in MMA and will stream live on Netflix on May 16.
Rousey also fired back at current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, who called her irrelevant on a podcast.
“Gina is so relevant that she’s the whole reason the 145lb division even exists. I am so relevant that the only reason Kayla has a job at the UFC is because of me,” Rousey said.
“She has the charisma of a wet towel and will always be in someone else’s shadow. The next time she wants to talk, she should look down at her feet and consider who paved the road she’s walking on.”
On fighter pay, Rousey confirmed the minimum purse for any fighter on the MVP card is $40,000 and that was “something the UFC cannot say”.
For 43-year-old Carano, who has not fought since a 2009 loss to Cris Cyborg, the experience felt different this time.
“I feel real peace and excitement about it. It’s not anxiety, it’s excitement — and that’s new for me.”
In the co-main event, former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou faces Philipe Lins, while Nate Diaz meets BKFC’s Mike Perry at welterweight.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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