Jake Paul believes the UFC’s dominance in mixed martial arts may be coming to an end.
Speaking at a recent press conference, Paul promoted the upcoming MVP event that will feature Ronda Rousey facing Gina Carano and former UFC Heavyweight Champion Francis Ngannou taking on Philipe Lins. The card will stream live on Netflix in May and will mark the first MMA event broadcast on the platform.
Paul, whose brother Logan Paul is currently signed with WWE, has been building Most Valuable Promotions alongside business partner Nakisa Bidarian. During the press event, he suggested the company could soon challenge the UFC’s position in the sport.
“Just four and a half years into building this company with Nakisa and we’re doing the first-ever MMA event live on Netflix.”
Paul argued that the current state of MMA leaves room for a new promotion to rise.
“MMA is in a weird position right now and it’s the wild west, and I believe we have a massive opportunity here to disrupt the whole space.”
According to Paul, MVP’s goal is to reshape the business by giving fighters more opportunities and better compensation.
“Put fighters first, get them the pay that they deserve, the platform they deserve.”
He went even further by directly criticizing the UFC’s long-term outlook.
“Because I believe the UFC is dying and MVP is here to take over.”
The upcoming event will be headlined by Rousey returning to competition against former Strikeforce champion Gina Carano. During the same press conference, Rousey also criticized the UFC’s current structure since the promotion shifted its business model away from traditional pay-per-view.
The card will also feature Ngannou facing Philipe Lins in the co-main event.
Most Valuable Promotions originally grew out of Paul’s rise in boxing. The company’s earliest events included Paul defeating former UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley twice.
In 2022, MVP promoted the high-profile bout between Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano, which later evolved into a trilogy of fights between the two boxing stars.
Paul’s most recent appearance connected to one of his own events came last year when he suffered a knockout loss to Anthony Joshua.
The upcoming Netflix event represents MVP’s first attempt to expand into mixed martial arts.
