Kayla Harrison didn’t hold back when asked about the debut card for MVP, the promotion backed by Jake Paul. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion dismissed the buzz around the event, calling the bold sales pitch from promoters and fighters alike “pure hype.”
Days before MVP’s debut event on May 16, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Kayla Harrison took aim at the promotion’s heavily marketed lineup, including the headline fight between former UFC champion Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano. Harrison made the remarks during an appearance on the YouTube channel Death Row MMA with Jorge Masvidal, as the card prepares to stream live on Netflix.
Her criticism lands at a time when crossover combat events are drawing major attention in the U.S., especially when they involve recognizable names from the sport’s past. That is clearly the lane MVP is trying to occupy with a nostalgia-driven main event built around two of the biggest early stars in women’s MMA.
Reacting to praise surrounding the card, Harrison mocked the idea that the show represents some historic standard for combat sports.
“The best card in combat sports history, haven’t you heard?” Harrison said with a laugh. “Rousey said it’s the greatest women’s fight of all time. How old is Gina? She hasn’t fought in 17 years. Be quiet.”
She was referring to the announced main event: Rousey’s return against Carano. Promoters have framed the matchup as a landmark clash between pioneers of women’s MMA, but the competitive questions are obvious. Rousey has not fought since 2016, while Carano has been out of action since 2009. For American fans, that makes the bout feel less like a true elite contest and more like a made-for-streaming spectacle built on name recognition.
That tension is part of why Harrison’s comments resonate. In today’s women’s bantamweight landscape, active contenders are judged by what they can still do, not by what they meant a decade ago. Harrison, who is very much in the current title picture, is speaking from that side of the divide. If MVP wants this event to be taken seriously beyond curiosity value, the Rousey-Carano fight will have to look like more than a reunion marketed as history.
Now the attention shifts to May 16, when the Netflix audience will decide whether MVP’s first big swing feels like a legitimate combat sports event or just a flashy nostalgia play.
