Jake Paul MVP and Netflix will launch their first mixed martial arts event this weekend.
Former UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey returns to the ring after nearly a decade to take on women’s mixed martial arts (MMA) pioneer Gina Carano. Rousey VS Carano The main event was held at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California.
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MVP has been a promotion within the boxing world since its inception five years ago, but Paul saw an opportunity in MMA.
“I think we’re agnostic about MMA or boxing. At the end of the day, we love combat sports, we’re great promoters, we have great relationships with partners at Netflix and other platforms. But we’ve always wanted to make MMA a reality,” Paul said on the Ariel Helwani Show.
“It’s always been in the back of our minds. I think the sport is ripe for disruption, maybe even more so than boxing is currently.”
With MVP and Netflix getting into MMA promotions, this brings them straight to streaming UFC on Paramount+. Paul believes the UFC fails to recognize the needs of its fans.
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“I think there’s a lot of weird stuff going on with the organization…They’ve kind of lost the pulse of the fans and making the fight that people want to see,” Paul said.
“I think the fans are starting to get upset with the way things are being run, the fights that are going on, the cards that are being put together. So, yeah, just hearing people talk. Obviously I don’t know anything that’s going on behind the scenes, but you can kind of feel it,” he continued.
“Like, I’m a UFC fan. I’ve been a UFC fan since I was 12 or 13 years old. I also noticed a difference in the organization. It’s hard to say what it is, but it doesn’t have as much hype anymore.”