For anyone who thought it would be smooth sailing for Jake Paul‘s MVP with their recent foray into MMA, they were wrong. Despite racking up a peak viewership of 17 million on Netflix, the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano card appears to have fallen short when it comes to ticket sales at the arena.
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According to reports, Most Valuable Promotions’ debut MMA card generated $2.2 million in gate revenue at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood. While significant for a debut, the figure falls more than $8 million short of what the UFC produced at the same venue when it last played the arena. UFC 311: Makhachev vs. Moicano in January 2025 drew $10.2 million in gate revenue at the Intuit Dome. This remains the largest recorded gate revenue in California history for an MMA event.
The attendance gap compounds the financial picture. Journalist Dave Meltzer, citing WrestleTix data, reported the MVP MMA 1 drew 15,795 spectators to the Intuit Dome. However, approximately 2,500 seats remained unsold. For context, Championship Rounds noted that the last time the UFC recorded a similar or slightly lower gate revenue to MVP’s $2.2 million figure was at UFC 275 in June 2022, when the promotion held the show at the Singapore Indoor Stadium.
The card, which featured two championship bouts, generated just $1,546,732 in gate revenue. However, the Singapore Indoor Stadium is significantly smaller than California’s Intuit Dome, with 10,787 seats, and still, UFC 275 was eventually declared a sellout.
While online, the picture was much better, it still wasn’t close to the numbers raked in by other combat events on the platform.
🚨 The reported live gate for Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano was $2.2M The last numbered UFC event with a disclosed gate that low was UFC 275 in Singapore back in June 2022
🚨 The Ronda Rousey vs Gina Carano MVP MMA card peaked at 17 million global viewers on Netflix 👀 For reference, other numbers for fights on Netflix: Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson: 108 million viewers Canelo vs Terence Crawford: 41 million viewers Jake Paul vs Anthony Joshua: 33
In comparison to Rousey vs. Carano’s 17 million live viewers, the Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson bout was seen live by 108 million viewers, Canelo Alvarez vs. Terence Crawford had 41 million, and Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua had 33 million viewers tuning in live.
While the event carried the label of being “underwhelming” in terms of gate and viewership numbers, Tapology reported that it shattered the platform’s traffic records. But as both positive and negative figures continue to surface, Dana White’s boss pointed out why MVP MMA cards may not be sustainable for Netflix.
Mark Shapiro believes Jake Paul’s MVP cards could eventually hamper Netflix in the long run
Other than the audience numbers, it seems UFC officials also took a close look at what unfolded during Jake Paul’s first MMA card. Speaking at the JPMorgan Global Technology Conference in Boston, TKO Group Holdings COO Mark Shapiro claimed the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano fight was initially offered to the UFC. However, the promotion ultimately rejected it, stressing that they prefer to book fights that truly matter in the MMA landscape.
The headliner also ended in just 17 seconds, with Ronda Rousey submitting Gina Carano via her signature armbar, while the favorites largely dominated the rest of the card as well. Shapiro acknowledged that promotions aim to create highlight-reel moments, but warned Netflix that such an approach could hurt viewership in the long run, as he believes it fails to fully represent MMA.
“I don’t believe a fight like that, just the way it played out, is really good for MMA, especially because it’s Netflix and such an incredible global audience that is going to sample, depending on what comes up on the front page, to go to that fight and think that’s what MMA is,” Shapiro said. “I don’t believe that is good for the sport long-term. We saw it that way and decided to pass on it.”
Well, Shapiro’s take certainly comes from a place of understanding the fight game. After all, Daniel Cormier and Ben Askren also pointed out that Paul’s card lacked a competitive edge, which ultimately lowered the intrigue surrounding the event, which is in tune the UFC boss’s stance.
That said, how MVP adjusts its matchmaking for the next card, and whether it can close the gap on gate revenue and viewership, will be the more meaningful test of the promotion’s long-term viability.
