Imago
Credits: IMAGO
Imago
Credits: IMAGO
Netflix’s entry into the MMA alongside Jake Paul‘s Most Valuable Promotions was supposed to feel massive, but a lack of turnout has now prompted fans to poke fun at those involved. Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano’s return to combat after a decade, and stars like Nate Diaz, Francis Ngannou, and Mike Perry on the same card, felt like the type of event that would sell itself. However, despite the fight being only days away, the seating map tells a completely different story.
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Ticketmaster currently shows large sections of the Intuit Dome still unsold, with more than half of the arena still available ahead of the May 16 event. Though it doesn’t necessarily mean that Jake Paul’s MVP card is doomed—combat sports ticket sales typically peak late in fight week—but it does present an odd image for what is being advertised as Netflix’s first MMA event, especially when the card itself does not lack recognizable names.
Along with Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano, the card includes Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry, Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins, and UFC veteran Junior dos Santos‘ return to action. Despite this, if the event is still largely unsold, timing may be the problem here.
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On the same night, the UFC is quietly hosting UFC Vegas 117 at the Apex in Las Vegas, headlined by Arnold Allen and Melquizael Costa. Even without arena crowds or huge production, UFC events do tend to sell out more often than not.
While Jake Paul’s Netflix event clearly leans toward spectacle and nostalgia in the hopes of capturing fan attention, UFC continues to control the MMA audience’s weekly viewing habits. This puts MVP in an awkward position: trying to usher in a new era of MMA streaming while fighting against the same machine that already owns the sport’s attention span.
MVP Netflix MMA card still has many seats available 🤔 pic.twitter.com/8IWX6xyzxQ
— Dovy🔌 (@DovySimuMMA) May 11, 2026
And as is evident, sometimes, even nostalgia can fail you, especially when you have someone like Arnold Allen fighting one of the hottest fighters in his division. At the same time, most of the MVP’s card features fighters like Nate Diaz, Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano, and Francis Ngannou, who are well past their prime despite their popularity. As a result, when images of large swathes of Intuit Dome appearing unsold made their way onto social media, fans couldn’t help but give Jake Paul and his promotion a blunt reality check.
Fight fans call out Jake Paul’s MVP MMA for ‘washed’ fight card
Social media fans criticized Jake Paul’s MVP for focusing too much on aging stars and nostalgia rather than building real excitement around active contenders. For many, the explanation was simple: the card just didn’t look like a real MMA fight card.
“Because Jake Paul got us a bunch of old people fighting,” one fan remarked. Another added, “No surprise. It’s full of has-beens and never was.” Others mocked the lineup more brutally, with comments such as “Full of old washed fighters lmaoooo” and “Who wants to watch old chickens fighting on this s— card?”
Much of the criticism centered around Ronda Rousey herself after she hyped the event by taking constant digs at the UFC.
“This is not just the biggest women’s fight of all time,” Rousey told the press last month. “This is something that’s going to happen once in a lifetime in MMA; it is the beginning of something huge.”
Now this very line is coming back to haunt her as fans immediately pushed back on that claim online. One fan wrote, “‘Biggest fight in MMA BAR NONE’—Delusional a– c— @rondarousey.” More chimed in with comments such as, “But Rhonda said it’s the biggest MMA fight of all time,” and “They might do better by hyping their own fighters rather than trashing other promotions.”
At the same time, plenty of hardcore MMA fans admitted they simply plan to watch the UFC instead. “We will be watching Allen vs Costa in the Apex instead of this,” one user stated, while another bluntly wrote, “Because mighty Arnold Allen at same time.”
That probably explains the most about the situation. Even without massive production, celebrity involvement, or Netflix funding, the UFC currently has something Jake Paul’s MVP is currently trying to replicate: fans who instinctively prioritize the fights themselves over the spectacle around them.
Written by
Edited by
Gokul Pillai