Let's Face It, the Ronda Rousey-Gina Carano Card is Already Better Than UFC's White House Event
The UFC's upcoming event at the White House was supposed to be one of the biggest MMA cards of all time. As it turns out, it won't even be the biggest of the year. Instead, that distinction will go to a blockbuster May 16 event on Netflix, headlined by a clash between former UFC champ Ronda Rousey and women's MMA pioneer Gina Carano.
The UFC Freedom 250 card, taking place at the White House to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the USA, is slated for June 14, which happens to be Donald Trump's 80th birthday. From the moment Trump first teased the idea last year, it was built up to be an event unlike anything the UFC had promoted to date. While the event's unique setting certainly sets it apart, it's unfortunately fallen well short of expectations.
We were promised multiple title fights—up to nine, if Trump's early claims were to be believed. Instead, we'll only get two, with Ilia Topuria defending the lightweight belt against Justin Gaethje, and Alex Pereira gunning for the interim heavyweight title opposite Ciryl Gane. The rest of the six-fight card, meanwhile, will be rounded out by four good but run-of-the-mill fights, including an underwhelming Bo Nickal vs. Kyle Daukaus middleweight clash that would not be out of place on a typical pay-per-view undercard. It's a good card, to be sure, but certainly nothing special, and fans have not been shy about sharing their disappointment.
In the same timeframe, it was announced that the former UFC bantamweight champion Rousey, widely credited with putting women's MMA on the map, will make her long-awaited return to the cage opposite former Strikeforce star Carano, who was arguably even more instrumental in bringing the women's side of the sport into the mainstream. The fight will be promoted by Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions, and after a handful of massive boxing cards, will mark Netflix's first foray into MMA.
Paul and the streaming giant are clearly pulling out all the stops.
While Rousey and Carano are both well out of their primes at 39 and 43, respectively, there is no question they are both still vastly bigger names than the vast majority of fighters on the UFC roster. That's thanks in large part to what they accomplished in their heydays, but also to the work they've done more recently, with Rousey enjoying an exciting run with WWE, and Carano building a commendable career as an actress, with notable roles in major productions like Disney's The Mandalorian and Marvel's Deadpool.
Through all their efforts, they have both developed mainstream cache in a way that few other fighters have before them—not Topuria or Pereira, and certainly not Gaethje, Gane, or anyone else on the White House bill. Their fight may not be good or even competitive—most people expect Rousey to blow Carano away—but it has already captured the attention of the masses, and thanks to Netflix's popularity and accessibility, it will undoubtedly attract millions of viewers on its own.
Unfortunately for the UFC, the Rousey vs. Carano fight is far from the only buzz-worthy attraction on the bill for the May 16 card. While Paul and his team could have easily banked on the appeal of the main event and filled out the undercard with affordable but low-profile fights, they have instead enlisted several of the biggest free agents in the sport to join in on the fun. The most notable participant will be one Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou, for those with short memories, is the former UFC heavyweight champion. He is also MMA's lineal heavyweight champion, as he never actually lost his UFC belt, but instead bailed on the promotion when they wouldn't pay him what they felt he was worth. He has had mixed result since parting ways with the promotion, losing a pair of boxing matches to Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, and winning an MMA bout against Renan Fereira in the PFL cage, but his accolades are unimpeachable, and his name continues to carry weight. Even when matched up with somebody like former UFC light heavyweight Philip Lins, who is unfortunately the best opponent Paul and his colleagues could find for the May 16 card, he is must-see TV.
That's not where Paul and co. stopped, either.
On Monday, Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix came together to announce another massive fight for their May 16 event: a clash between former UFC stars Nate Diaz and "Platinum" Mike Perry.
Diaz and Perry, like Rousey and Carano, have both seemingly passed their primes in MMA. However, like the women in the main event, and Ngannou, both are still huge names in combat sports, with the ability to attract massive viewership—at least as much as Topuria and Pereira, and certainly more than anybody else the UFC called upon to fight at the White House. For Diaz, that's thanks in large part to his fights in the UFC, most notably a two-fight series with Conor McGregor. However, it's also due to his enigmatic personality outside of competition—a trait that Perry shares. While "Platinum" never caught on with UFC fans on the same level that Diaz did, he developed a cult following himself and has only gained popularity since leaving the promotion, thanks to a violent run in the Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship ring.
It's fair to assume most people in the UFC offices were caught off guard by Paul and Netflix's push into MMA. It's been years since they were threatened by another promotion—probably not since Strikeforce's heavyweight Grand Prix or ONE Championship's signings of Demetrious Johnson, Eddie Alvarez, and Sage Northcutt. However, by underdelivering on their massively hyped White House event, UFC brass set themselves up to be outdone by anybody with the resources and ambition to put together a major MMA card—and Paul and Netflix certainly have both.
The surprising duo has already built something that will massively outperform the White House event in terms of viewership, and the amazing thing is that they are seemingly not done yet. After all, they have an entire undercard to round out. Whether they opt for a shorter event like the UFC's White House card or a more typical 10 or 12-fight card, they still have plenty of room to improve their product and plenty of fighters to call upon with that goal in mind.
Imagine, for example, they enlist the services of former UFC stars like Yoel Romero, Anderson Silva, Darren Till, Paige VanZant, or Junior dos Santos. All of those fighters are well out of their primes, but remain familiar faces for fight fans everywhere. Now imagine they call upon more relevant talent, like UFC outcast Muhammad Mokaev or former ONE champ and recent free agent Adriano Moraes, or prospects like Bella Mir, the daughter of former UFC heavyweight champ Frank Mir. The involvement of any such fighters would greatly strengthen the integrity of the event.
There is no question that the UFC is still the home of the best fighters in MMA. However, there is enough talent outside the promotion that Paul and his team could easily build a card that dwarfs the White House event if they're willing to spend.
The truth is that—even with just three fights confirmed for the event—they already have.
