Ronda Rousey says her return to MMA has turned into a personal reset as she prepares to face fellow pioneer Gina Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California, in Netflix’s first live MMA event under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions banner.
Speaking with Jim Rome, the former UFC bantamweight champion framed this camp as a way to repair her relationship with a sport that once left her battered physically and mentally, while still embracing the danger of a five‑round featherweight bout nearly a decade after her last fight.
Ronda Rousey says Gina Carano fight camp is about ‘healing and joy’ before Netflix return
Rousey, 39, has been quietly training for a year ahead of the matchup, which will stream at no extra cost to Netflix subscribers and serve as the centerpiece of MVP’s first MMA card. “I’ve been training for a whole year in secret and finally we’re able to announce it,” she told Rome. “May 16, Intuit Dome in Inglewood, exclusively streaming on Netflix. Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano finally happening.” The bout pits Rousey, competing for the first time since back‑to‑back knockout losses to Holly Holm and Amanda Nunes in 2015 and 2016, against Carano, 43, who has not fought since her 2009 TKO defeat to Cris Cyborg in Strikeforce.
For Rousey, the build has been less about rage and more about recovery. “I think it’s going to be an entirely different feeling,” she said of this camp. “This whole camp has been about healing and joy and finding my joy in the sport again. Before it’s always been a high‑anxiety moment. Of course I’m going to be as focused as ever to go out there and kill somebody, but I think there’s going to be a lot more nostalgia and appreciation of the moment than I’ve ever had before.” She revealed that the seed for the matchup was planted during pregnancy: “I was nine months pregnant when I first came up with the idea. I was like, ‘Come on, girl. Let’s get back into it together.’ It’s been a saga, but she was down from the first mention of it.”
The emotional weight of the comeback sits alongside years of private concern about her brain health. Rousey has described suffering concussion‑like symptoms dating back to her judo career, including sudden vision loss and difficulty thinking clearly after even light contact in training. She said a turning point came when UFC CEO Dana White sent her to the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, where neurologist Dr. Charles Bernick connected her history of childhood migraines and a family pattern of epilepsy to the way her body responds to head trauma. “They did every test you can think of,” Rousey recalled. “I finally got a clear diagnosis after years of wondering what was wrong. Thanks to Dana sending me to the Cleveland Clinic, I really know what’s going on and have some actionable knowledge to work off of.”
That diagnosis has shaped her approach to the Carano fight. “I’m going to be going into the fight with the intention of not getting hit once because that’s basically what I’ve had to do my entire career,” she told Rome, stressing that clean entries, clinch work, and finishes on the mat are more than tactics now; they are medical priorities. The California State Athletic Commission has already ordered extensive neurological and concussion testing for both Rousey and Carano before licensing them, with officials saying their medical team will run a full battery of exams to ensure the matchup is safe.
Outside the cage, Rousey has framed the Netflix deal as a conscious break from the UFC’s current financial structure, saying a proposed New Year’s date with the promotion fell apart when she felt the offer did not match her value. She has called MVP a “fighter‑first” partner and labeled the Carano fight “the biggest super fight in women’s combat sport history,” arguing that the global streaming stage gives both veterans a level of control and exposure they could not secure in their original eras. “This is as much for me and Gina as it is for the fans,” Carano said in a statement. “I believe I will walk out of this fight with the win, and I welcome how hard it will be. What a time to be alive.”
