Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano: 5 big takeaways from Netflix’s wild MMA debut

Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions rolled out a successful MMA launch on Netflix on Saturday night, even if the big struggle was filling time between all the fast finishes. Here are the five top takeaways from the newest player in the MMA game.

1. Oh yeah, that’s what a Ronda Rousey fight looks like. It’s been so long I almost forgot. One takedown. Some perfunctory striking. Then slap on the armbar and call it a night. There’s bound to be something unsatisfying about sitting through that many ads and interviews for just 17 seconds worth of fighting, but you can’t blame Rousey. She got in, got paid and got out. That’s the goal, and it’s tough to do it any better than that.

Did it tell us anything about where this 2026 version of Rousey would fit into the overall pecking order in the modern iteration of women’s MMA? Not really. But let’s be honest and admit that was never really the goal. This fight was about turning the names into a narrative, and the narrative into a spectacle. It accomplished that. This felt like a major event. Just getting there has proven nearly impossible for almost every other promoter outside the UFC. And there’s just no way MVP could have accomplished it without Rousey.

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2. There ought to be a law against teasing us with Francis Ngannou fights that we’re never, ever going to get. We knew this would happen. Right after he knocked the woefully undersized and overmatched Philipe Lins into the land of wind and ghosts, Ngannou squinted off into the distance to where Jon Jones was watching from a Netflix broadcast desk. It was a painful reminder of what could have, should have been. Pretending like it’s even the remotest possibility now seems like a waste of everyone’s time.

Jones isn’t going to get out of that UFC contract any time soon. Ngannou probably isn’t going to give up his lucrative free agency to chase Jones into the Octagon. Even just talking about it now feels like rubbing salt in the wound. This was the ultimate superfight that got away. When UFC CEO Dana White says he “pretty much” made all the big fights fans wanted to see, this is the one staring skeptically back at him.

Even now, Ngannou is a force of nature. But he’s in desperate need of someone relevant to fight, and it’s sheer torture to have Jones just sitting there, in the same building, doing nothing much at all with whatever remains of his once prodigious talents.

3. Mike Perry has had one of the most successful post-UFC careers of all time, which is deeply weird. He exited in 2021 on a two-fight losing streak, having lost four of his last five, and he did not seem like anyone you’d want to trade futures with. But after fitting right into bare-knuckle boxing like he was born for it, he was able to cash in on an MMA return with this bloody pummeling of Nate Diaz, who left the cage looking like a pin cushion after two rounds.

Can you imagine what would have become of Perry if the UFC had held onto him? He would’ve earned a fraction of the money he’s made outside the organization. He’d also probably be just another guy in a crowded division, winning some and losing some and getting nowhere fast in the process. Just goes to show there are all different ways of making it in combat sports, and not as many of them as you’d think are dependent on winning all the fights.

4. Salahdine Parnasse is who they said he was. Exciting. Explosive. A ton of potential flashing in every quick, cracking strike. This fight against Kenneth Cross always had the feel of a showcase matchup, but Parnasse made the most of it.

Anyone who still thinks the Frenchman was just padding his record over in KSW clearly isn’t paying attention. There’s a strong case that he’s one of the top talents outside the UFC right now at any weight class. Finding opponents who can help him prove it could be the hard part.

5. It will never not make me sad to watch Junior dos Santos get knocked out. He’s always been such a warm, gregarious guy. Even when he was the baddest man on the planet, he was still a lovable teddy bear. So seeing him get tossed into the wood-chipper against Robelis Despaigne was a real bummer, even if we all know that’s just life in the fight game.

This felt like the kind of style pairing meant to help build up Despaigne after his brief and not at all memorable run in the UFC. I guess it achieved that by adding a particularly brutal finish to his highlight reel. Still feels gross, though. If you make me sit through “JDS” getting folded like a lawn chair and waking up lost and confused on live TV, I’m never going to thank you for the experience.