MVP MMA 1: Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano Live Winners and Losers, Results
Welcome to the MMA time machine.
Two of the trailblazers on the women's side of the sport—former UFC bantamweight champ Ronda Rousey and ex-Strikeforce title challenger Gina Carano—got back into the competitive hurt business after a pair of prolonged absences.
Together, they headlined Jake Paul's first foray into another side of combat sports promotion, an 11-bout show at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
Rousey, 39, hadn't fought professionally since a 48-second loss to Amanda Nunes on the UFC 207 show in December 2016, foregoing non-scripted competition in favor of appearances with the WWE, Ring of Honor and AEW pro wrestling outfits.
Carano, meanwhile, turned 44 last month and last competed in a failed bid for the Strikeforce featherweight belt in 2009, losing by TKO to Cris Cyborg. She'd spent much of her post-fight time as an actress, appearing in the Fast & Furious 6 movie and two seasons of The Mandalorian in 2019 and 2020.
B/R's combat team was in the building in Southern California to take in all the action and delivered a real-time account of the show's definitive winners and losers. Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the app comments.
Winner: Menacing Memories
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It was just like old times.
Waking up the echoes of her days as a UFC menace, Rousey strode from her corner, took Carano down with no resistance, shook loose from her foe's desperate try at a guillotine choke, and quickly seized the armbar that prompted Carano to tap after 17 seconds.
It was instantly reminiscent of Rousey's "Rowdy" rise to the top of the sports world a decade ago, which came during a 12-fight win streak in which she scored nine submissions and three TKOs—including eight inside of one minute and four in less than 30 seconds.
In fact, it went just three seconds longer than her quickest win, against Cat Zingano in the UFC 184 main event just down the road at what's now called Crypto.com Arena.
Rousey and Carano shared a long embrace after referee John McCarthy's intervention, and the winner was completely gracious toward her beaten rival.
"Gina is the person who brought me into MMA and she's the only person who could have brought me back," Rousey said. "(She) changed my world and (she) changed the world. I will never be able to pay (her) back enough."
But the account, from Rousey's perspective, is permanently closed.
"I was hoping to come out as unscathed as possible," she said. "It was beautiful martial arts. It was art. There is no way I could have ended it better than this."
Loser: Popularity Contestant
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Nate Diaz both looked and sounded the part.
And more than anything, a partisan West Coast crowd wanted to believe it.
But it didn't take long for Mike Perry, reinvented as a bare-knuckle assassin after a middling five-year UFC run, to reveal the popular Stockton emperor had no competitive clothes.
Nearly everything the veteran "Platinum" welterweight turned to bloody gold in Saturday's co-main event, which ended by TKO at the end of the second round after Diaz was battered into a corner surrender following 10 minutes of hyper-violent, one-way action.
"I think it was pretty emphatic," Perry said. "It was big power shots landing left and right. He's the toughest f—king guy out there. But I'm a lot to deal with. I'm a super aggressive guy. I'm a bad a-s all-around fighter."
Perry piqued the crowd's interest with calls for a Conor McGregor fight, alongside a rematch with Paul, who beat him in a boxing ring under MMA rules.
But Diaz, who'd barely made it to his stool after the second round, was already back on his verbal game when handed a mic.
"I'll come back and get his f--king a-s," he said. "I would like to get him again."
Winner: Predatorial Prowess
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Philipe Lins wasn't expected to provide much resistance on Saturday night.
And not surprisingly, he didn't.
The Brazilian appeared hurt by nearly every strike Francis Ngannou aimed in his direction and was left semi-conscious by the final one, a left hook that connected in a mid-cage exchange and sent him tumbling to the floor, forcing Herb Dean's hand at 4:31.
It was an eighth straight MMA win for the former UFC heavyweight king, branded as the sport's lineal champion by the promotion, and put him back at the front of the big man pack after a nearly two-year absence in which he'd fought twice as a professional boxer.
"I wasn't worried about my aggressiveness," Ngannou said. "One thing I know about myself is it's an instinct. I just have to be prepared and have the energy and manage it."
Afterward, he suggested possible MMA follow-ups with Robelis Despaigne, who won elsewhere on the card, or Jon Jones, who was cage-side for the fight before graduating to analysis at the Netflix broadcast table.
"Period," Ngannou said, when asked if he was the world's best heavyweight. "I'm the f--king best. Period."
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Winner: French Revolution
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Salahdine Parnasse didn't come to the ring with an official nickname.
But allow us to suggest one: "Relentless."
The 28-year-old Frenchman arrived to Paul's promotion after a long belt-copping run in Europe's KSW organization and didn't look at all out of his element in grinding Contender Series winner Kenneth Cross to a pulp and scoring a TKO at 4:18 of the first round.
It was a stirring U.S. debut for the 11-year pro, who'd never competed on U.S. soil but now appears ready for a laundry list of high-end foes in and around the lightweight division.
Cross, who'd won four straight since 2023, managed to get up after a prolonged pummeling on the ground but was soon folded by a body shot that drew Jason Herzog's rescue.
"I've been working really, really hard," Parnasse said. "I'm so happy to be here. It's really an honor. I'm looking forward to the next fight. I consider myself the best fighter in the world."
Winner: Staying on Script
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There was no mystery about Despaigne.
Everyone knew going in that the mammoth Cuban would try to blast an opponent in ex-UFC heavyweight boss Junior dos Santos, who'd been finished in each of his last five fights.
The only question would be whether dos Santos, at 42, had the chops to get the "Big Boy" to the mat before incurring decisive damage.
The answer? No. He didn't.
Instead, Despaigne hurt the veteran Brazilian with nearly every strike he threw and avoided dangerous entanglements in their brief encounter before stringing together a three-punch combo—right, left, right—that finished the job at 2:59 of the opening round.
And what better way to follow a main-card KO than with a high-profile callout of another ex-king of the octagonal heavyweights.
"Francis (Ngannou), let's do it," he said. "I want to go for a belt in this company."
Winner: Easy Work
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Let's face it, Namo Fazil makes MMA look a little easier than it is.
He was on the wrong end of a rear-naked choke try in the first round against Jake Babian, but rather than showing signs of competitive stress, he looked up at Herzog with a wide grin to indicate there was no imminent danger.
And once that hurdle was cleared, the rest was no contest.
Fazil gained control on the mat by the time the initial five minutes were complete, then went right to work in the second, hurting Babian with strikes and forcing him back to the mat, where he locked in the d'arce choke that ended matters at 58 seconds.
It's his seventh straight win and 10th in 11 pro fights, and prompted a post-fight visit to Paul at the cage-side and a subsequent rant in which he called for the winner of the Perry-Diaz fight.
"We keep it 100 out here. I talk a lot of sh-t, but I back it up like a motherf—ker," Fazil said. "I ain't no bi-ch. Momma didn't raise no bi-ch."
Winner: Dramatic Demise
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As gatekeepers go, Brazilian veteran Adriano Moraes is sturdy as any.
Now 39, he had three title reigns in the ONE Championship promotion and won one of three fights in a series with UFC hall of famer Demetrious Johnson.
And even after all that, he's still got a genuine flair for the dramatic.
Moraes seemed on the way to a narrow decision loss before landing a kick that sent previously unbeaten foe Phumi Nkuta to the mat and left him vulnerable to a rear-naked choke that rendered him unconscious and ended matters by technical submission with one second remaining.
Nkuta hadn't tapped out by the final bell, but he didn't immediately respond when Moraes released the hold, prompting Dean to consult with cage-side officials and review the footage before declaring the finish official.
"This fight was tough as hell. He was there all the time," Moraes said. "But in the last second, I was really fortunate to get the finish. When I let go, he was sleeping already. He's still dreaming."
Winner: Remember the Name
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A nickname like "A-- Kicking Machine" mandates a certain level of violence.
Jason Jackson delivered.
The ex-Bellator welterweight champ provided the show's first finish with a left hand that dumped Jefferson Creighton to the floor in a heap and left him defenseless to the follow-up ground strikes that brought a wave-off from McCarthy after 22 seconds.
Jackson exited the cage and immediately chatted up promoter Paul at cage-side, suggesting he become more of a main-card factor on future shows.
He's 20-6-1 as a pro and 13-3 since a Contender Series loss in 2017.
"You guys are sleeping on me. I should be on the main card," Jackson said. "There's nothing you guys can do to break me because my mind's made up and nothing can break a made-up mind. I came here for war. Just bring me the baddest mother f--ker and I'm ready."
Winner: Early Oasis
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On an early card pockmarked by has-beens facing never-weres in inconsequential fights, David Mgoyan and Albert Morales provided a competitive oasis.
The featherweight rivals engaged in 15 minutes of spirited action that featured precision striking, aggressive grappling and the perpetual threat of a submission sequence.
When it was over, Mgoyan, just 21, had legitimized his case as a top non-UFC prospect with a unanimous decision in which all three judges gave him all three rounds.
Now 9-1 in a career that began in 2022, Mgoyan's lone loss came by majority decision in a Contender Series appearance last September. He returned four months later for a win in the California-based Up Next Fighting promotion and handed the 34-year-old Morales just his third loss in 10 fights since the start of 2023.
The official scores were 29-28, 30-26 and 30-27. B/R matched the latter with a 30-27 tally.
Winner: Sister Tact
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The technique may not run in the family.
But the success did. For one night at least.
Aline Pereira, the younger sister of the former two-division UFC champion, punched, kicked and generally bullied her way to a surprisingly split decision over Canadian export Jade Masson-Wong in a 130-bout catchweight encounter.
Five inches taller than her grappling-focused foe, the 5'9" Pereira recovered from a lackluster first round to control the last two and seemed to earn two 29-28 scorecards.
They were needed to offset a third judge who gave Masson-Wong all three rounds.
It was Pereira's third win in five MMA fights alongside a full-contact karate career that earned her the flyweight title in the Karate Combat promotion.
Loser: Crowd Sourcing
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Chris Avila had the crowd. But not much else.
The 33-year-old Stockton product was the audible favorite of the early arrivers to the venue, but when it came to competitive traffic in the six-sided cage, it was largely one way.
Though he landed flashier blows that drew more reaction from the thousand or so fans in the building, Avila was strafed from distance by a taller, longer and more active Brandon Jenkins while dropping a decision that was somehow split in nature.
Jenkins, who had former UFC bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili in his corner, earned two of three rounds from a pair of judges to offset a 29-28 card in the other direction. B/R's card gave the 34-year-old, who lost both ends of a two-fight stint in the UFC in 2021-22, all three rounds.
Avila fell to 8-10 in his MMA career, which had largely been put on hold for a seven-fight boxing run from 2021 to 2025.
Full Card Results
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Main Card
Ronda Rousey def. Gina Carano by submission (armbar), 0:17, Round 1
Mike Perry def. Nate Diaz by TKO (corner stoppage), 5:00, Round 2
Francis Ngannou def. Philipe Lins by KO (punch), 4:31, Round 1
Salahdine Parnasse def. Kenneth Cross by TKO (punches), 4:18, Round 1
Robelis Despaigne def. Junior dos Santos by KO (punches), 2:59, Round 1
Preliminary Card
Namo Fazil def. Jake Babian by submission (d'arce choke), 0:58, Round 2
Adriano Moraes def. Phumi Nkuta by technical submission (rear-naked choke), 4:59, Round 3
Jason Jackson def. Jefferson Creighton by KO (punch), 0:22, Round 1
David Mgoyan def. Albert Morales by unanimous decision (29-28, 30-26, 30-27)
Aline Pereira def. Jade Masson-Wong by split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Brandon Jenkins def. Chris Avila by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
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