MR. TITO: What Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano’s MVP MMA Event “Disappointment” Could Teach WWE & TKO About Their Recent PLEs

Right now, many are complaining about the Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano mixed martial arts (MMA) match that aired on Netflix and for the Jake Paul MVP promotion. Despite the months of hype, the actual match only lasted 17 seconds. In case you missed it or blinked while watching the event, Ronda charged Gina and took her down to quickly lock in her armbar that has defeated multiple other women under 1 minute.

For those who don’t watch MMA regularly or have seen previous Ronda Rousey fights, we’re getting allegations of “fixed”, “rigged”, etc. While I’d normally agree, especially when the grifting Paul brothers are involved, I think that many are giving the MVP promotion too much credit for rigging something. A very motivated and 39 year-old Ronda destroyed a 44 year-old Gina Carano who last fought during 2009 and spent much of the year losing 100 pounds. Carano never faced anyone as capable as Rousey, hence the humiliating defeat.

While I wished that they could have fought longer, I was pretty satisfied with the bloody battle between Nate Diaz and Mike Perry. Nate Diaz was bleeding from multiple places, as I impressed with how he didn’t just pass out during the fight from so much blood loss. Sometimes, the main event for both boxing and MMA cards can be disappointing but something on the undercard pops to keep you relatively satisfied.

Honestly for me, it was on Netflix versus blowing through Pay Per View dollars… So I didn’t lose my arse on the event, as I consume Netflix heavily to get my money’s worth. I’m still smarting from the FRAUD known as Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao that took my $99 (or $33, splitting it with 2 buddies).

That’s what you get from boxing or MMA events… High risk, but high reward. Thanks to boxing and MMA being legit competitive sports, when their main event matches hit, you’ll remember it forever. When it thuds, it really hurts and angers you as a customer.

My Dad loved boxing and we purchased many boxing Pay Per Views during the 1990s… There were many skunks, such as the Mike Tyson fight or pretty much any late 1990s Tyson fight… But then you’d get matches that you’d never forget, like Riddick Bowe vs. Evander Holyfield or the night when George Foreman SHOCKED the world by defeating Michael Moorer for the world championship. It was a literal roll of the dice, as the highs were amazing and the lows were disappointing. Yet, those highs were so good that you dared to roll that dice.

I remember how great UFC was through the late 2000s and early 2010s. Promotion was full of stars and had major cards that often delivered with various weight classes. I took a chance on multiple Pay Per Views with Brock Lesnar on it and he almost always delivered, as he’d take a beating for much of the match and then pull off a miraculous comeback.

But, both UFC and boxing have had their induced lows… For boxing, you had to watch Don King’s involvement as most of those matches were always fishy in nature, in my opinion. The multiple world titles really hurt things, too, as it diluted who the real world champion was when the belts were split up. I was so mad when Riddick Bowe threw away one of the world titles, as I knew it would create chaos with the world titles.

For UFC, the sale to Endeavor really hurt the promotion’s quality. What you’re seeing now in the WWE is what UFC has endured since 2016. Wrestlers not getting paid and minimized versus pushing a brand, more ads crammed into events, more ads all over the octagon and arena, and fewer diehard fans in the crowd versus corporate types (higher ticket prices often does that). UFC has become a completely nameless promotion other than Dana White as its president.

With Pro Wrestling, as I’ve argued for YEARS as Mr. Tito, you truly get your BANG for your BUCK. 3 hour shows with multiple matches going 20-30 minutes and often providing scripted moments that you’ll never forget.

Wrestling provides low risk (cheaper than MMA or boxing) with often moderate to high returns. Rarely do you get a skunk Premium Live Event or Pay Per View for wrestling. When WWE cost $9.99 per month for its WWE Network, it really felt good to watch the WWE’s biggest shows of the year.

Which brings me to WWE’s Premium Live Events from 2026…

For one, you’re paying for ESPN Unlimited for $29.99 per month, which is either more than triple or double of what you were paying with Peacock (depending on which streaming package that you had). Then, WWE is delivering SHORTER matches on PLEs now… That’s right, if you watched WWE Backlash 2026, only ONE match was above 20 minutes long in length and that was the opening match that aired on ESPN 2 between Rollins and Breakker.

How about Wrestlemania 42? Night #1 featured 4 matches out of 7 that were under 10 minutes long, while Night #2 had 4 out of 6 matches that were at or under 10 minutes long. Only the 2 main events went above 20 minutes of that event.

WWE PLEs are PACKED full of advertisements now, with them either being required advertisement spots per ESPN Unlimited or WWE running their own ads.

And that’s on top of an event with a ring littered with ads now, while each match has their own sponsor.

TKO is now requesting that many WWE stars take a 50% paycut…

Yep, Endeavor is morphing WWE right into another UFC model. Grift the fans and television network for as much money as you can and deep pocket the money obtained. Rinse and repeat.

Part of the allure for having boxing or MMA on Netflix is to try new things that the other professions wouldn’t try, while creating unexpected match-ups. UFC reportedly turned down Carano vs. Rousey, expecting it to be the mismatch that it turned out to be. Yet, this MVP promotion did 27 million for its first MMA event on Netflix.

Makes me wonder how much TKO will “butter up” Netflix to let them go the full 10 year term of their contract or maybe re-sign for something higher once the first 5 years are up. After all, what could stop someone from starting their own one-off wrestling event that airs on Netflix? TKO having the WWE could be a deterrent for any rouge one-off wrestling events from happening.

What made wrestling interesting again was during 2018, Cody Rhodes, the Young Bucks, and their friends held the first ever “All In” event. They drew 10,000 fans and eyeballs to Pay Per View without any promotional machine behind them. Cody and the Bucks proved that a big event without a major promotion to not only happen, but draw. This “All In” 2018 event was so successful that it inspired the Khan family to join up with Rhodes and the Bucks to form All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Since then, you’ve had real choice in wrestling to consume either WWE or AEW events and that choice has given us incredible events since the COVID-19 pandemic ended.

But now, here we are in 2026, and WWE is in first place by a distance after widening the gap during 2023. Complacent, WWE has now reduced the quantity and quality of its PLE events by shortening the matches and inserting more advertisements. The end result is a lot of starting and stopping, just like an overly corporate boxing or MMA event.

So yeah, WWE PLEs used to be a guaranteed great evening of wrestling but now it’s like a disappointing boxing or MMA event. Well, maybe it’s like UFC for the past 10 years. Once this current crop of veterans fully retire from the WWE, WWE will be like UFC with brand over wrestlers pushed harder than ever and lots of ads shoved in your faces during events.

WWE should be delivering great matches and fewer ads… They should remind boxing and MMA fans of how risky it is to watch their big events, as the main events often disappoint. Instead, we’re getting shorter matches and more advertisements.

TRUSTING that a WWE PLE was great was a guarantee that used to be in place… But now, the dream is over… TKO has taken over and has ruined yet another thing in the WWE.

TKO has so much revenue coming in from WWE and UFC, yet it still has a high level of debt. Endeavor and its daddy Silver Lake also have a high level of debt. Seems like it’s a management issue within the Endeavor and TKO groups on grifting and being unable to operate a company without high levels of debt.

The dream is over, what can I say? The dream is over, yesterday… And so, dear friends, you’ll just have to carry on, the dream is over.

Mr. Tito Column Archive @ NoDQ