Jake Paul’s MVP MMA held its debut event last night (Sat., May 16, 2026) inside Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, California in what proved to be a rather entertaining night of fights. In the main event of the evening, Ronda Rousey made easy work of Gina Carano by submitting her with a first-round armbar that took all of 17 seconds (see it again here).
In the co-main event of the evening, Mike Perry put an absolute beating on Nate Diaz, leaving him a bloody mess after two rounds, forcing a corner stoppage
after 10 minutes of back-and-forth action (full recap here). And in the other featured bout of the night. Francis Ngannou returned to action after a lengthy layoff to dispose of Philipe Lins in the very first round via knockout (highlights).
Biggest Winner: Mike Perry
Ronda won’t be getting this spot because, well, we all pretty much knew that is exactly how her fight against Carano was going to go down, and she wasn’t in there long enough to show us much. Perry, meanwhile, gets the slot here because he put an absolute beating on Diaz for 10 minutes, landing big power shots left and right to the point that the Stockton slugger’s face was crimson red with blood, spilling it all over Jake Paul’s brand new cage. In the end, Perry’s relentless power attack was too much for Diaz, and thankfully his corner put an end to the fight because nothing good was going to come out of it. Perry proved that he still has a lot in the tank, and whether it’s in MMA or bare knuckle brawling he is as entertaining as they come. This was a huge statement from “The King of Violence.”
Runner Up: Francis Ngannou
Ngannou has been very hesitant to be an active MMA fighter throughout his career dating back to his UFC days. but when he fights he is quick to remind everyone just how dangerous of a Heavyweight he truly is. And after 19 months away from the cage, “The Predator” once again put on a show by dominating and knocking out Lins in the very first round. He did it with relative ease too, which many expected, and proved just how powerful he is with just one shot. He is now undefeated in his last eight MMA fights. Afterward, he called for a fight against Jon Jones, which prompted “Bones” — who was sitting cage side for the fight and in the booth for the post-fight — to say he’ll try to work with UFC to get out of his contract to make the fight happen. That will prove to be a tough task to say the least, but if he and his legal team can swing it, then it would be a huge win for himself and Ngannou.
Biggest Loser (s): Nate Diaz and Gina Carano
A little over 3.5 years removed from his last MMA fight, Diaz returned to the cage to show the world that he still had something left. He did the opposite. Diaz looked slow and pretty much like a man who hadn’t fought in the MMA cage in close to four years. I get it, taking big shots will do that to you but he offered Perry absolutely nothing on the feet aside from a couple of good jabs he landed. Once he was busted open you knew it was only a matter of time before the fight was going to be stopped. Not only does he lose his third in last four MMA contests, but he potentially loses out on the UFC comeback he’s been teasing, in particular a trilogy fight against Conor McGregor, which would have undoubtedly been another big payday. Whether or not we see Diaz again in MMA remains to be seen, but I wouldn’t expect him and Dana White to do business again after that performance.
I have always been a big Gina Carano fan, but I — like everyone else — knew her taking this fight was a big mistake. I mean, I’m happy she got a big payday and used this as motivation to get in better shape, but she hadn’t competed in 17 years and it didn’t take a genius to predict that this was going to be one-sided mauling. The loss won’t hurt her legacy, but in my opinion her fight against Ronda kind of put a damper on what was an otherwise great event. This fight happened a decade too late, and it showed.
For complete ‘Rousey vs. Carano’ fight card results, coverage, and highlights click HERE.
