The numbers are in for Ronda Rousey’s long-awaited MMA comeback on Netflix, and according to MVP Promotions, the event delivered massive viewership worldwide.
Netflix and MVP issued a joint statement on Tuesday touting the success of Saturday’s first-ever MMA event on the streaming platform, which featured Rousey returning to competition for the first time in nearly a decade against Gina Carano in the headline bout.
According to the release, the event drew more than 12.4 million live viewers globally on Netflix, with the audience reportedly peaking at nearly 17 million viewers during the Rousey vs. Carano main event.
The companies also stated that the main card averaged 9.3 million viewers in the United States alone, with the peak domestic audience hitting 11.6 million for the main event fight.
If accurate, those numbers would surpass the famous UFC on FOX debut event in 2011, which featured Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos and peaked at 8.8 million viewers with an average audience of 5.7 million.
Another major stat highlighted in the announcement was the event’s reported average minute audience, which MVP said came in at 12.4 million viewers throughout the main card broadcast.
The event also generated a strong live gate. MVP claimed the show brought in $2.2 million from the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
There’s already talk about bigger plans moving forward as well.
“We’ve received an overwhelming amount of interest from investors, strategic partners, and fighters who want to be involved with MVP and the future of MVP MMA,” MVP co-founders Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian said in the statement.
“We are currently reviewing all strategic options to do something very meaningful within MMA on a go-forward basis with a distribution partner like Netflix that shares our vision to create lasting impact,” the statement continued.
As for the fight itself, Rousey made quick work of Carano in her return bout, scoring a 17-second victory in the main event.
