Former UFC star Ronda Rousey and pioneering women's MMA fighter Gina Carano will finally face off on Saturday, May 16, 2026, at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, ending long retirements for both.
The fight is part of the first MMA card to be streamed on Netflix, produced by Most Valuable Promotions. The card also features a heavyweight bout between Francis Ngannou and Philipe Lins, as well as Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry.
The main card starts at approximately 9 p.m. Eastern time (01:00 GMT Sunday), with preliminaries at 6 p.m. Eastern (22:00 GMT). The main card streams globally on Netflix, while prelims are on Tudum.
The featherweight (140 lb, 63.5 kg) fight is scheduled for five five-minute rounds with 4-ounce (113 g) gloves, following the Unified Rules of MMA adopted by major promotions like the UFC.
Carano, 44, and Cris Cyborg were the first women to headline a major MMA event in 2009 under Strikeforce. Carano retired after that loss with a 7-1 record. Rousey, 39, became arguably the most famous athlete in women's combat sports history with six consecutive UFC wins, but retired at 12-2 after losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes.
After her final UFC defeats, Rousey prioritized her health, including concussion susceptibility, and moved into acting and professional wrestling. "I had to allow my body to rest and heal," she told the Associated Press. She told ABC Sport Daily she had lost her love for MMA toward the end. "This is my chance to really change all of those prior associations and make this thing mine again," she said.
Weeks ago, Rousey criticized the UFC's upcoming White House event as an "oligarch shmooze fest" while promoting her own fight. "This is a fight card for EVERYONE, not some oligarch shmooze fest," she wrote on Instagram.
Carano has had a successful acting career post-MMA, notably as Cara Dune in "The Mandalorian." But she wants to remind fans of her fighting legacy. "I'm not fighting Ronda just to say I fought Ronda Rousey. I'm fighting to win," she told ESPN. Rousey is a heavy -600 favorite (86% win probability), with Carano a +425 underdog.
Source: www.aljazeera.com