Netflix officially stepped into the MMA world Saturday night with a star-driven card headlined by Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano at Intuit Dome.
The event marked the first MMA show ever streamed live on Netflix. It also served as the MMA debut for Most Valuable Promotions, the promotion founded by Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian.
Whether the partnership continues remains uncertain, but those behind the event sounded encouraged by the early results.
Nakisa Bidarian Calls Event A “Test”
Bidarian made it clear after the event that MVP entered the night without guarantees about the future. According to him, the company viewed the show as an opportunity to see if a large-scale MMA product under the MVP banner could truly connect with fans.
“We’ve said the entire time unequivocally this is a test. Let us see if this works.”
Bidarian hinted that the early signs were positive and suggested viewership numbers could eventually tell the full story.
“Guess what? It really worked. It really, really worked. You’ll hear about those numbers.”
Jake Paul Says MVP Wants To “Disrupt” MMA
Paul also spoke confidently about the promotion’s direction after the event wrapped up. Although MVP has already established itself in boxing, Saturday was the company’s first attempt at promoting an MMA card. Paul believes the event showed what the company can offer moving forward.
“The long-term strategy is whatever we want to make it. We’re visionaries. We execute. We put in the time.”
“That’s what we’ve been doing in the whole combat sports world. We did it in boxing, and tonight is an example of what we’re going to be doing in MMA going forward, breaking records.”
Paul also praised the atmosphere inside Intuit Dome and said the focus remains on entertainment and fighter pay.
“This is the most electric card of the year so far, and it’s really about the fans and the fighters and giving them the entertainment and the content that they want.”
“I’m all about putting fighters first, getting them the paydays, and putting on these insane events like this.”