Ronda Rousey, gina carano to meet in May 16 MMA superfight at Intuit Dome
A blockbuster women's MMA matchup has been confirmed for May 16 (ET), with two pioneers of the sport set to square off in a five-round featherweight bout at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. The event will be promoted by Jake Paul’s promotion and will be presented live by a major global streaming service, marking a high-profile return to the cage for both fighters.
What the fight is: history, weight class and rules
The contest is billed as a five-round featherweight fight at 145 pounds. It will be professionally sanctioned under standard mixed-martial-arts rules and contested over five five-minute rounds with 4-ounce gloves in a hexagonal cage. The matchup reunites two names often discussed as instrumental in the rise of women's MMA, each arriving with very different career arcs and degrees of recent activity.
Ronda Rousey, 39, built a global profile through Olympic judo and a dominant run as a bantamweight champion that helped establish women's competition at the sport’s highest levels. After high-profile defeats late in her championship reign, she pivoted away from full-time MMA and pursued careers in other combat and entertainment arenas while starting a family. Rousey later signaled an interest in competitive return and has been training in recent months.
gina carano, 43, was widely viewed as the sport’s first mainstream female star. She competed in landmark televised women’s matches and headlined major events before retiring from competition and transitioning to acting. In the latter half of 2025, she began sparking comeback talk with renewed training sessions under experienced coaches, and those efforts have now culminated in this matchup.
Promoter push, commercial stakes and comeback questions
The bout will headline the first MMA card that a prominent streaming platform will broadcast live, and it is being promoted by Jake Paul’s outfit. The combination of two household names, event production aimed at a global audience, and the novelty of the platform move elevates the commercial stakes well beyond a standard comeback fight.
Both fighters bring considerable name recognition, but neither will enter the cage without questions. Each has been away from high-level MMA competition for multiple years, and ring rust, age and long layoffs are realistic talking points. Their styles and histories—one forged in elite-level competitive MMA and Olympic competition, the other in early televised women's bouts and then entertainment—create a narrative of experience versus legacy that promoters will lean into.
Carano’s current coach has publicly described her as committed in the gym and physically able to return, noting that veteran fighters can rediscover form once they resume disciplined training. Rousey has similarly talked about preparing for competition again while managing family life. How those preparations translate into peak fight-night performance will determine whether this is a compelling sporting contest or primarily a lucrative spectacle.
What to watch next and timing
Expect further announcements on additional fights for the card and on broadcast windows in the weeks ahead. The main event is locked for May 16 (ET) at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles; under standard timing for a marquee card, a late-evening start in Eastern Time should be anticipated. Matchmakers and medical officials will need to clear both competitors, and athletic commissions typically finalize official fight details in the weeks before a sanctioned event.
This matchup closes a long chapter of speculation that stretched back to the period when both women stood as the most visible faces of their era in the sport. Whether it becomes a defining competitive moment or a commercially driven landmark, the bout is certain to generate intense attention across combat-sport audiences and mainstream viewers alike.
