Despite falling short on a few claims that projected a billion views, last week’s UFC Freedom proved an unquestionable hit. Yet, for all the hype it generated, when it boils down to sheer numbers, UFC’s much-discussed event and those staged by other promoters in the recent past seem to have fallen short when compared to the events staged by Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions (MVP).

With the UFC event now in history, the figures that surfaced recently have triggered numerous comparisons. Taking those numbers into consideration, Nakisa Bidarian, Jake Paul’s close associate and MVP’s co-founder, shared an intriguing detail which was limited to just one event, the MVPW 03, headlined by Stephanie Han and Holly Holm’s title fight on May 30. Yet it revealed how the five-year-old promotion has evolved into a major force when it comes to changing combat fans’ perceptions.

“MVPW-03 US stats…,” Bidarian’s X post read. “✅ Over 3 million viewers watched at least 1 minute (compared to UFC Freedom 250’s 17M viewers for 1 minute). ✅ 559K average viewership (went head to head with game 7 of NBA conference finals) ✅ 962K peak viewership ✅ 97% of Top Rank’s 2025 ESPN linear average. Outdrew multiple 2025 Top Rank ESPN telecasts, including Navarrete-Suarez (370K) and Zayas-Garcia (557K). ✅ Male 18-34 was the strongest demo. Women’s boxing 🥊 #MVPW.”

To put it simply, Bidarian’s post appeared aimed at demonstrating the commercial strength of MVP’s women’s boxing product. With the boxing ecosystem, beyond highlighting overall reach and average viewership, he compared the event’s audience to established Top Rank broadcasts and pointed to its performance, especially among younger male viewers. In essence, women’s boxing can attract mainstream viewers and compete with more established boxing stakeholders.

His earlier post sets the context for the latest message. While acknowledging UFC’s status as MMA’s dominant brand and the unique advantages enjoyed by its White House event, Bidarian maintained that MVP’s audience figures should be viewed within its proper context. The viewership statistics therefore highlighted not only the reach of the promotion’s latest event but also its competitiveness with established boxing broadcasts. The larger point was MVP’s boxing product is capable of attracting mainstream audiences.

Outside of those viewership figures, the MVPW 03 also proved a major success in hard ticket sales and in setting a new gate record for the venue, El Paso County Coliseum, for a combat sports event.

Bidarian’s comments follow reports that indicate how UFC Freedom 250 fared among viewers.

Data from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, which Paramount said formed the basis of its viewership figures, showed that the UFC Freedom 250 drew a massive audience across North and Latin America. In line with Bidarian’s tweet, the event attracted roughly 17 million viewers who watched at least part of the broadcast, even if only briefly. On average, however, about 8.2 million people were tuned in at any given time across the two regions.

The United States accounted for the bulk of that audience, with an average of 7 million viewers. The strong performance made the card the most-watched live event released exclusively on Paramount+.

In comparison, the MVP’s MMA1 event that unfolded at Inglewood, California’s Intuit Dome on Netflix on May 16 drew an average audience of 9.3 million viewers in the United States and 12.4 million worldwide. Interest particularly surged as the event progressed towards the headliner between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, with global viewership climbing to nearly 17 million at its highest point.

Jake Paul and Ronda Rousey take aim at UFC over audience figures

Beyond the broadcast itself, the card generated significant online engagement, with reports suggesting that it produced more than 410 million impressions on MVP’s social media channels. Last but not least, the main event, which ended in just 17 seconds when Rousey submitted Carano, also achieved a notable milestone by recording the largest U.S. audience for an MMA event since 2011.

The statistics were not the only talking point to emerge from the comparison. Several figures associated with MVP also weighed in publicly.

Footage on social media featuring Jake Paul garnered considerable traction. Set to Drake’s Burning Bridges, Paul could be seen pointing at a post that showed the viewership comparison between the MVP MMA event and the White card. The accompanying caption taunted, “1st event vs. 329th event. Where y’all at, UFC?”

As more reports surrounding the viewership details surfaced, Ronda Rousey, whose fractious relationship with the UFC is now well documented, also weighed in. Reacting to Complex’s tweet about the viewership, the Olympic medalist and former UFC champion lodged a sharp tease at the promotion’s Chief Business Officer Hunter Campbell, saying, “Lmao! Kiss my a** Hunter Campbell 😜.”

Against that backdrop, Bidarian appeared to be reinforcing a point MVP has stressed for years – that it is the leading force in women’s boxing. While many traditional stakeholders in the sport offered little more than lip service to the issue, MVP has invested heavily in advancing women’s boxing and now women’s participation in mixed martial arts.

Viewing women’s combat sports as only secondary to men’s participation may now prove risky, as MVP has shown. They can be equal commercial attractions.