Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano make their return to the cage Saturday in the first mixed martial arts event promoted by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions brand. The pair will headline the fight card at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
Rousey, 39, the UFC’s inaugural women’s bantamweight champion, has not fought since a knockout loss to Amanda Nunes in December 2016. Carano, 44, is making her first walk to the cage in nearly 17 years. In Carano’s last fight, she lost to Cris Cyborg by first-round knockout in August 2009.
The theme of returns to MMA runs through the entire main card. Nate Diaz will put on 4-ounce gloves for the first time in nearly four years against Mike Perry. Diaz’s last MMA fight was a fourth-round submission win over Tony Ferguson in September 2022. Perry, a fellow former UFC fighter, has not competed in MMA since an April 2021 unanimous decision loss to Daniel Rodriguez.
Francis Ngannou ends a nearly two-year stint away from MMA. During that time, Ngannou went 0-2 in boxing matches against former heavyweight champions Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua, respectively. The former UFC heavyweight champion and PFL Super Fights heavyweight titleholder will take on MMA journeyman Philipe Lins, who won the 2018 PFL heavyweight tournament and has made appearances in Bellator MMA and UFC.
To kick off the main card at 9 p.m. ET, former UFC heavyweight champion Junior Dos Santos will step into a cage for the first time since 2022. He’ll take on former UFC fighter Robelis Despaigne. KSW lightweight Salahdine Parnasse also makes his American debut against Syndicate MMA product Kenneth Cross.
Brett Okamoto and Andreas Hale will break down the main card action live from the Intuit Dome.
MVP MMA 1 results:
Catchweight: Adriano Moraes def. Phumi Nkuta by SUB3
Welterweight: Jason Jackson def. Jeff Creighton by KO1
Featherweight: David Mgoyan def. Albert Morales by unanimous decision
Catchweight: Aline Pereira def. Jade Masson-Wong by split decision
Catchweight: Brandon Jenkins def. Chris Avila by split decision
