Ronda Rousey is set to return to competition for the first time in nearly a decade, but her comeback bout against Gina Carano will take place outside the UFC under a partnership with Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions and Netflix.

The former UFC women’s bantamweight champion is scheduled to face Carano on May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California. After the fight was announced, Rousey revealed she had initially approached UFC CEO Dana White about staging the matchup in the octagon, but the two sides were unable to reach an agreement.

Speaking at the UFC Houston post-fight press conference on Saturday, White confirmed discussions had taken place. “Her and I have been talking about this since last year,” White said about Rousey. “It just didn’t work out. But I’m happy for her.”

White also addressed his relationship with Carano while reacting to the bout. “Listen, me and Gina are in a really good place, we weren’t at one point. I’m happy for both of them,” he said.

Rousey later stated that financial terms ultimately prevented a deal with the UFC. “It no longer made sense for me to go over there because they didn’t want to pay us the money we deserve,” Rousey said. “Because then from the rest of the time the deal, they’re going to have to pay everybody else more. So then I decided to look elsewhere.”

Negotiations reportedly dated back to 2025, prior to the UFC’s broadcast agreement shift from ESPN to Paramount, which included the elimination of the company’s pay-per-view model at the start of 2026. Rousey’s fight with Carano will instead be promoted by Most Valuable Promotions, with Netflix set to air an MMA card for the first time in its history after previously exploring a broadcast deal with the UFC before the promotion finalized a seven-year agreement with Paramount.