Jake Paul's MVP wants to disrupt MMA starting with Rousey vs. Carano on Netflix
If youre watching a sporting event on Saturday, chances are youll be streaming mixed martial arts on Netflix. While there will be the NHL playoffs and MLBs Subway Series, both the NBA and WNBA will be off and the combat sports calendar has largely cleared the way for Netflixs first ever MMA broadcast.Most Valuable Promotions (MVP) is organizing whats poised to be a blockbuster night of action featuring Ronda Rousey taking on Gina Carrano in the main event, Francis Ngannou fighting Philipe Lins and Nate Diaz battling Mike Perry from Los Angeles Intuit Dome. Of the five boxing events Netflix has produced and streamed in its history, MVP has put on three of them, including the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson fight in 2024 that was claimed to be the most streamed sporting event ever at the time.Paul and Nakisa Bidarian founded MVP in 2021 with a focus on creating these massive events for Netflix, while also building out a robust womens boxing division that includes multiple champions and household names like Amanda Serrano, Katie Taylor and Holly Holm. And while the boxing stable is fairly well established, Bidarian told Yahoo Sports that over the next year, MVP plans to build and develop a roster of signed MMA fighters with a structured format and a regular cadence of events. And, for the first time in company history, the company will seek outside investment to grow MVPs scale and scope.In the next 12 months, we'll raise capital for the first time and really accelerate our growth plans across boxing and MMA, Bidarian said, with the hope of needing just one funding round. We know exactly the type of investors that we want, targeting a much broader audience than hardcore combat sports. If you're fishing in a lake, we want to be fishing in an ocean.Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano attend Rousey vs. Carano NYC Press Conference at The Palladium on April 15, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images for Netflix)Sarah Stier via Getty ImagesBidarian said MVP had several fundraising conversations roughly 18 months ago by what he called investors and constituents within the combat sports ecosystem, but opted against it at the time. But now with Rousey, Ngannou and Diaz as the launching point, MVP is ready to enter a crowded space alongside UFC, Professional Fighters League and ONE Championship.We want to be a successful alternative product within the MMA space, Bidarian said. I can't compete with the UFC. I'd be lying to myself if I thought that, right? That's not the goal. But can I make an impact? Can I create opportunity, put on an amazing product and put all the money back into the shows and into the fighters. Were pretty confident we can.From 2011-2016, Bidarian was UFCs chief financial officer and its executive vice president of strategy and business ventures. In 2016, he helped Fertitta Entertainment and UFC parent company Zuffa sell a majority stake in the company to a group led by WME-IMG (now Endeavor) and private equity behemoths KKR and Silver Lake for roughly $4 billion. Bidarian served as CEO of Fertitta Capital after the sale, then later co-founded MVP with Paul.[Play 2026 Soccer Pick 'Em with FOX One and make your picks for the world's biggest soccer tournament]With MVP, Bidarian is looking to innovate, disrupt and lead in MMA. That means not just putting on fight cards with star power, but also paying the fighters better than other MMA entities. Tuesday on The Ariel Helwani Show, Paul said that that all fighters on the card will be paid a minimum of $40,000, more than UFCs typical introductory fighter salary of $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win. Bidarian also pointed out UFCs $375 million settlement of a class action lawsuit filed in 2014, which occurred during his tenure at the company, that charged Zuffa of anticompetitive practices that suppressed fighters wages.They're putting their lives on the line, he said. We're not looking to take the credit. We're not looking to fatten our pockets with their labor. This is a potential differentiation to bring fighters into the fold that may want to be properly compensated for their value.While Bidarian declined several times to disclose exact financial numbers, he claimed several hundred million dollars in revenue over the last three years, claiming we never lost money on any events, and doesnt plan to Saturday night either. In response to a set of emailed questions, Netflix called MVP a fantastic partner set to deliver a breakout, water-cooler moment thats a win for its viewers and MMA fans around the world. They share a commitment to combat sports, womens sports and highlighting their stories on a global scale.Though Netflix is always looking for new and exciting ways to engage with and to bring value to its members, it also maintains a disciplined approach to looking for big, buzzy events. Earlier this week, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos maintained that the company is not interested in bidding on whole seasons of sports, including the NFL. But ESPN recently lost UFC media rights to Paramount and already has a deal with MVP for its MVPW womens boxing division that reportedly runs through 2028. Could ESPN expand its relationship with MVP into MMA, adding to its current contract with PFL to broaden its combat sports offerings?Everyone is nervous about the NFL rights renewal, Bidarian replied, and how much value is extracted from those football contracts may well determine how large media companies invest in MMA over the next number of years.Obviously, the UFC rights are locked up for the next seven years, he said, but I would hope ESPN is going to continue to back MMA. It'd be a shame if it didn't.Bidarian called Saturdays event as big of an MMA card as you can put on. While he thinks theres a vocal minority of UFC fans that are going to talk trash about the MVP production, hes hopeful for mostly positive feedback and for viewership to meet the companys criteria. While Netflix said it doesnt provide specific viewership predictions, Paul said on The Ariel Helwani Show he is conservatively estimating 20 million, which would shatter the viewership record for an MMA event.Bidarian understands whats at stake in LA.I think the opportunities are going to be endless if Saturday night goes well, Bidarian said.Hes hopeful that the Netflix broadcast will be the catalyst for a company with a wide variety of options inside and outside the ring and cage. MVP could separate its boxing and MMA businesses, but Bidarian is intrigued by the idea of having fighters like Ngannou, Holm and Paul be able to compete in both disciplines. While carving out a strong space for itself in womens boxing is a nice start, the real growth opportunity for MVP appears to be in MMA. How it performs this weekend on Netflix could help determine whether fans around the world will be witnessing combat sports newest $1 billion brand.
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