Ronda Rousey’s return to MMA doesn’t last long

The return of women’s combat sports pioneers Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano didn’t last long.

Rousey needed just 17 seconds to lock in an armbar and submit Carano on Saturday night at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, California in the main event of the first mixed martial arts card put on by Most Valuable Promotions.

She immediately took Carano down to the mat with a double-leg takedown, worked to mount and landed a few punches before locking in her trademark submission.

“I was hoping to come out as unscathed as possible because I didn’t really want to hurt her,” Rousey said. “It was just beautiful martial arts. That’s what I think that efficiency is.

“My husband and my kids are watching. I don’t want to put them through any more than I have to.”

Both fighters were coming off extended layoffs from competition. Carano is a trailblazer in the sport and is largely credited for bringing an audience to women’s MMA, but had not fought since suffering the first loss of her career when she was knocked out by Cris Cyborg in 2009.

The 44-year-old, who grew up in Las Vegas and trains in the city, went into acting and claimed she lost 100 pounds in the last year in order to prepare for her return at featherweight.

Rousey, an Olympic bronze medalist in judo, pursued a career in MMA to follow in Carano’s footsteps. She ended up taking the sport to new heights, opening the door for the UFC to finally include a women’s division.

She became one of the biggest stars the sport had ever seen only to retire after suffering a second consecutive knockout loss in 2016. Rousey, 39, has participated in professional wrestling and done some acting, as well.

“Gina is the person who brought me into MMA and the only one who could bring me back,” Rousey said. “She’s my hero. You changed my world and we changed the world and I will never, ever forget that. I’ll never be able to pay you back, but I’m so glad we finally got to share this moment.”

Rousey ruled out fighting again, but Carano left the door slightly ajar.

“I wanted that to last longer,” she said. “I felt like I was so ready. I felt so good and I haven’t been here for 17 years. I wanted to at least hit her.

“Right now, getting in the cage was a victory. Fighting a legend is a victory. I feel great. I just feel like I wanted a fight and I didn’t get that, but this was a victory in my life.”

In the co-main event, Mike Perry scored an impressive stoppage of Nate Diaz in a matchup of former UFC welterweights.

Perry, who has been competing in bareknuckle boxing, battered and bloodied Diaz for two full rounds before Diaz’s corner requested the fight be stopped before the start of the third round.

He landed flurries of punches to the head and body, mixing in elbows and then delivering a crushing knee just before the bell in the second round.

“I think it was pretty emphatic,” he said. “Big power shots landing left and right. I didn’t feel any countershots. Only his jiu-jitsu gave me any problems and I knew how to counter that.

“I landed really good shots and I was hitting him. I was getting a little tired and he’s the toughest guy out there. There’s no quit in him. He’s super tough, but we got the job done. I have to be happy I had success. I’m grateful for the opportunity and I tried to bring it. Blood was spilled.”

Diaz didn’t complain about the stoppage, saying there was too much blood in his eyes for him to rally in the fight.

But he did say he wanted a rematch.

“Good work, Mike, but I want it again,” Diaz said. “Ain’t nobody beating me twice. Next time, he ain’t going to do nothing.”

The results were mixed for two former UFC champions on the card.

Francis Ngannou made a spectacular return to mixed martial arts with a first-round knockout of Philipe Lins.

Ngannou landed several big shots before a short right uppercut and big left hook finally left Lins sprawled out on the mat.

“He ate some shots at the beginning and he kept going,” Ngannou said. “He was tougher than I thought. But I kept coming forward and knew it would come at any minute.”

Ngannou left the UFC in early 2023 over business differences as he sought more contractual independence. He has competed in a pair of massive boxing bouts, dropping a controversial decision against Tyson Fury and getting knocked out by Anthony Joshua. Ngannou also had a PFL bout in 2024, but he used Saturday night’s big stage to announce his presence in MMA again.

“If somebody doesn’t remember who I am, they must have amnesia,” he said. “It’s not like I’m making a statement. It’s just another reminder.”

Ngannou, who left UFC as the champion, added he believes he’s still the best heavyweight mixed martial artist in the world.

“That’s not a question to be asked,” he said. “I’m the best, period.”

He used the opportunity to plead with Jon Jones, who was seated at the broadcast table, to get out of his UFC contract and go into business for himself so they can square off in what would be one of the biggest MMA heavyweight fights in history.

Jones, who relinquished his UFC belt and announced his retirement in March, responded the legal obstacles may be too high a hurdle to clear.

“I’ve got to try to focus on getting out of my UFC contract,” he said. “That’s going to be the difficult part if this fight’s going to happen. I don’t think (UFC president Dana White) is interested in doing business with Francis, so doing it with MVP would probably be the only way to make it happen, and if we can get out of my contract that would be great.”

Junior dos Santos, who last held the UFC belt in 2012 and last fought in the UFC in 2020, didn’t have as much success as Ngannou.

He was knocked out by Robelis Despaigne, a three-fight UFC veteran and Olympic taekwondo bronze medalist, in just 2:59.

Also on the main card, Salahdine Parnasse knocked out Kenneth Cross with 42 seconds remaining in the first round.