Former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey continues to make the media rounds ahead of her blockbuster return to MMA Saturday night opposite Gina Carano in the main event of the first-ever MMA card promoted by Most Valuable Promotions.
Taking place at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, Calif., the bigger narrative surrounding Saturday night’s Netflix ordeal isn’t the fact that a combined decade-plus of layoffs from both women has left questions about what’s left of their careers. It may just be where the future of MMA is headed, at least according to Rousey, who is doing her best to advocate for the sport in a unique way.
Whether she will continue to do so following the fight is unclear, though.
Ronda Rousey Presents Bold Vision For MVP
In an interview with All That Smoke Fight, Rousey broke down her long-term goals should she decide to transition into promoting fights.
“I would love to do through MVP — if we continued to do this — is to make every single person at home a matchmaker,” Rousey said. “What fight do you want to see next? Who do you think would match up great? Put on great fights for the sake of great fights.”
In traditional matchmaking, the UFC (or whichever promotion) makes the fights generally without fan input. Rousey, if it were up to her, wants the events to resonate with those who watch the product.
“The future of the sport is not titles or brands,” Rousey said. “It’s these showcase fights. When you see people that are characters that stand out, that know how to captivate people, that’s something that needs to be nourished.”
Rousey went on to say that the UFC nearly had a blockbuster return for Rousey set for the end of last year in a would-be retirement of the UFC Women’s Featherweight Championship. Due to disagreements between Rousey and UFC brass (particularly CBO Hunter Campbell), the fight was squashed following a meeting Rousey was part of.
Ronda Rousey Clarifies Position With UFC, Dana White
Rousey said she has no disdain for UFC CEO Dana White, who essentially gave Rousey permission to pursue the fight against Carano elsewhere.
“Everything has lined up,” Rousey said of the event’s timeline. “Maybe that guy was meant to act like a showbiz p***k in that meeting just to, like, give me the right nudge that I needed at that time.”
Rousey-Carano tops a star-studded card, which also features Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry and the return of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou, to name a few.
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