Ronda Rousey has described her upcoming return to competition against Gina Carano as the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history, positioning the bout as a defining moment for the sport.
Rousey, a former Olympic bronze medallist in judo at the 2008 Beijing Games and the first female fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, said the contest goes beyond a typical comeback narrative. She held and defended the UFC bantamweight title six times before losing to 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 said at a press conference on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old dismissed suggestions that the bout is driven by nostalgia or commercial motives, citing continued audience interest in high-profile returns. She pointed to the November 2024 fight between Mike Tyson and Jake Paul, which drew a global audience of 108 million viewers and became the most-watched sporting event on a streaming platform.
Rousey’s fight with Carano will headline the first MMA event promoted by boxing-focused company MVP. The card is scheduled to stream live on Netflix on May 16.
In the lead-up, Rousey also responded to criticism from current UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison, who had called her irrelevant.
“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.”
Rousey also addressed fighter compensation, stating that the minimum purse for athletes on the MVP card would be $40,000, adding that it was “something the UFC cannot say”.
For Carano, now 43 and returning after her last fight in 2009, the experience carries a different emotional weight.
“I feel real peace and excitement about it. It’s not anxiety, it’s excitement — and that’s new for me,” she said.
The event will also feature former UFC heavyweight champion Francis Ngannou taking on Philipe Lins, while Nate Diaz is set to face Mike Perry at welterweight in the co-main event.
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