Ronda Rousey believes MVP MMA could overtake UFC in the future: ‘I would love to be their Dana White’

Ronda Rousey promises she’s only coming back for one more fight but that doesn’t mean she’s completely done with MMA.

Ahead of her comeback fight against Gina Carano on May 16, the UFC Hall of Famer has devoted a considerable amount of time to bashing her former employers, especially after she dealt with UFC Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell, who handles contracts, bout agreements and some aspects of matchmaking for the company. So Rousey ended up partnering with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions instead and helped build a blockbuster event that’s airing on Netflix, which is available at no extra cost to 325 million-plus subscribers.

MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian has already said that if the Rousey vs. Carano card is successful, the organization could be involved in MMA on a long term basis and the former UFC bantamweight champion believes that’s exactly what the sport needs right now.

In fact, Rousey would love to help run the promotion if given the opportunity.

“I mean I think nobody is more qualified than me,” Rousey told TMZ. “I’m definitely more qualified than Hunter f*cking Campbell. I think that MVP would be an incredible partner and that Nakisa [Bidarian] and Jake Paul really believe in making sure the fighters are compensated fairly.

“The sport is at a crossroads where it’s kind of like I came upon women’s MMA and I’m like wait a minute, there’s a huge opportunity here. I’m seeing it right now with MVP and Netflix and MMA. [If] this event is a huge success, there’s a huge opportunity to take over the market share in MMA and show everybody what they’ve been missing.”

Despite her constant criticism of the UFC while promoting her return to action, Rousey still praises Dana White, lamenting that he no longer has the same level of control after Endeavor spent over $4 billion to buy the promotion in 2016. These days, TKO Group Holdings, the parent company to the UFC, holds the keys to the kingdom and while White still serves as president and CEO, Rousey knows he’s not the one calling the shots.

As a result, Rousey feels the UFC has forgotten what it’s like to build marquee events that fans want to watch and instead the company only focuses on the bottom line.

“I think what Jake Paul and Mike Tyson proved is that showcase fights are the future of the sport,” Rousey explained. “People don’t tune in to see a belt. They don’t tune in to see a brand. They tune in to see characters that they know and love. It’s just like Pirates of the Caribbean. I’m not tuning in because I like the brand Pirates of the Caribbean or Disney. I don’t really care who gets Davey Jones’ heart at the end. I’m tuning in to see Jack Sparrow.

“The UFC, I think, has forgot that the fighters are the stars and that the characters are what people tune into see. They forgot when they started giving fight cards numbers instead of names and when they started putting everybody in the same exact uniform. I feel like there’s a huge opportunity to show what people miss in MMA and creating premier fights that feature characters that people love. I think this is just the beginning, if it is the huge success that I expect it to be. Hopefully there’s a partnership there in the future with me and MVP.”

So what kind of role would Rousey like in this hypothetical company?

Rousey believes she has all the makings of a top-notch promoter, especially after she was effectively tutored by White while she became one of the biggest superstars in the sport.

“I would love to be their Dana and shepherd them into the future,” Rousey said. “We’ll see how this goes first. I feel like it’s a no-brainer.”

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