Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions is set to host its first MMA event with the big double-return bout between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano on Saturday from Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome. MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian has high expectations for the event on Netflix.
MVP has done its best to disrupt the combat sports world since its creation in 2021, particularly in boxing. The organization of this weekend’s MMA debut alone has already accomplished that with the big names and platform involved, but for Bidarian, it goes even deeper. The MVP co-founder said Tuesday on “The Ariel Helwani Show” that all fighters on the card will be paid a minimum of $40,000, more than UFC’s typical introductory fighter salary of $12,000 to show and $12,000 to win. Unlike the UFC’s show-win pay model, MVP’s purses will also be a flat rate, with bonus incentives still in play.
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“That’s guaranteed, and then every fighter has a performance bonus in addition to that, which there are different levels depending on the fighter,” Bidarian told Uncrowned.
“We will have a Fight of the Night. Jake and I need to kind of discuss it, and we’ll announce it at the right time. But every fighter does have a performance bonus incentive.”
The differences in pay structure don’t end there. Bidarian noted Saturday’s event will operate with a unique revenue share compared to the UFC’s approach, which typically pays its fighters between 16-20% of the revenue earned by the company.
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“[The revenue share] is much higher than 50% to the fighters. Much higher,” Bidarian said. “Our objective is not to lose money and obviously make a little bit of money, but it’s really about putting the money back into the pockets of the fighters. They’re the ones risking their lives. They’re the ones people are paying to see, and we feel like we’ve lived up to that to this point, and we’re going to continue to live up to that.”
For now, MVP’s inaugural MMA event is functionally a one-off, though if all goes as planned, the potential for more only expands.
Bidarian hopes this is just the beginning. There aren’t currently any commitments in place from either MVP or Netflix to carry on with future events, Bidarian said, however he fully expects talks to begin in the following months, should Saturday’s show be a success.
Bidarian even has a number in mind for what an MMA calendar could look like.
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“When we think about the go-forward, it’s four to six [events a year] to start, and then strategically grow from there. I think it’s focused on 2027,” Bidarian said.
Rousey and Carano are the centerpiece of MVP’s MMA debut, which comes as no surprise from a promotion that’s heavily focused on the women’s fight scene.
It’s one step at a time with MVP MMA. But with a rich roster on hand, some very easy, in-your-face matchups with history could present themselves, Bidarian believes.
“We’ve thought about a lot of future fights, absolutely,” Bidarian said.
“If [Rousey] wins or Gina wins, we obviously [already] promote Holly Holm, and that would be a dream fight for us to see either of them fight Holly. But it’s ultimately up to them, right? Fighters have to want to make the fight happen.”
