Nakisa Bidarian on MVP MMA Competing With UFC, Improving Fighter Pay, Jake Paul's Boxing Future

Added: 2026-05-13

[00:00:00]The first ever MMA card on Netflix. The first ever MVP MMA card. A lot of history to be had. It's a main event that we never thought would ever come to fruition. It's Ronda Rousey, Gina Carano. It's Francis Sananu versus Phipe Linds. It's Nathan Diaz versus Mike Perry. It's Kenneth Cross against Saladin Paras. It's Robles Despan against Junior Dos Santos. It's a lot more than that. I have been waiting a long time to talk to this man because I want to know about the genesis. I want to know how they got here and where they're going. Let us talk to the CEO of Most Valuable Promotions, the co-founder of MVP as well, Mr. Nikisa Bedarian is here in our LA office. Hello, sir. How are you?

[00:00:40]>> Good. How are you?

[00:00:41]>> Please, please, please have a seat.

[00:00:42]>> Thank you for having me.

[00:00:43]>> You're the only one to have been to our New York office and now Uncrowned HQ West Coast.

[00:00:48]>> This is amazing.

[00:00:49]>> Pretty good. All for your card on Saturday. Not bad. I mean, some kind of love.

[00:00:54]>> Thank you for Thank you for being here and excited to see what's to come this week. Yes. How do you feel?

[00:00:59]>> Uh, I feel it's a pretty special moment given the time I spent at the UFC learning about MMA from day one. You know, I showed up at the UFC thanks to Lorenzo Fertitta as head of strategy having never been to an MMA event.

[00:01:16]>> Never, not one.

[00:01:17]>> Sorry. I've been to two events, but I was wasn't a fan. I'd been to two events before I showed up as head of strategy.

[00:01:23]I didn't understand the sport. I didn't know the fighters. So, it was really on the job training and I was there when Rhonda arrived. I left three weeks before her last fight.

[00:01:33]>> Wow.

[00:01:33]>> And now to be doing this with her, having seen the impact she had is Yeah.

[00:01:39]It's surreal.

[00:01:40]>> Was this always part of the plan?

[00:01:42]>> No, it was definitely never part of >> It was not part of the plan.

[00:01:44]>> No, we we never looked at doing MMA as a strategic >> really angle, but when we set up MVP, the name was Most Valuable Promotions.

[00:01:54]It wasn't most valuable boxing. It wasn't Jake Paul boxing. The focus was how do we create an entity that can assimilate into any big event and represent talent and athletes the right way.

[00:02:10]>> So if she so she's told the story if she doesn't call you after having this idea and all this stuff, it doesn't work out with the UFC, you think you guys don't go into MMA?

[00:02:18]>> Not at this point.

[00:02:19]>> Wow.

[00:02:19]>> Yeah. And so why do it? I mean, it's big, but you're going into something that's a whole new venture. It's a different sport, a different market. Why say yes? Why do it?

[00:02:30]>> I think it's really interesting that the reason we're in women's boxing is in part because of Ronda Rousey, right?

[00:02:37]Because she trailblazed and showed that a female athlete could be as big as her male counterparts and even bigger. In 2015, she was our biggest star at the UFC. And so when we got into women's boxing, that background and understanding was a driver of it. And now because of her, we're getting into MMA. And it's very clear to me, it's very clear to Jake and it's mostly most clear to Ronda Rousey. There's an opportunity to create a alternative platform to the leader in the sport which is clearly UFC that is fighter centric that looks at you know the offering much more in terms of what UFC used to be and we're excited about that.

[00:03:18]We've been approached by a number of investors. We've been approached by different players within the industry and given my background and given what we've been able to do with MVP today, I feel pretty good where we sit.

[00:03:29]>> Okay, two things. One thing, just get this a little You're so softspoken.

[00:03:33]You're not like Michael Hearn. Uh you're a gentleman. Um okay, investors, by the way, still just you and Jake.

[00:03:40]>> Still Jake and I. Self-funded. Uh proud to say we've never lost a dollar. Most startup organizations in sport, combat sports, any sport, lose tens, sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars. You look at the WNBA, which I love how popular it's become. 30 years in the business and for 30 years they've been in the red, right? And for us to be able to do what we've done, for us to invest in women's boxing and so far, you know, be cash flow positive is is pretty good.

[00:04:11]>> I saw the matchroom news yesterday, right? So there's investors getting into combat sports all the time. Have you been close? Are you considering bringing in someone else?

[00:04:20]>> Yes. So Matchroom took on investment like 18 months ago. This is the second investor that's come in. So kudos to them. And they have a very >> uh nice diversified business between boxing and darts and other verticals.

[00:04:33]From our side, we've yeah, we've had investor dialogue and we're confident if and when we choose to raise capital, we'll have no problem doing so. Where are you when Rhonda calls you about this idea?

[00:04:44]>> I don't remember where I was when we spoke, but I remember the email that came in and the email was >> The email was the initial.

[00:04:52]>> The email was the initial email >> and the email was from her representative. Okay.

[00:04:56]>> Saying Rhonda's seen what you're doing with MVP, what you're doing for women's boxing, and the quality of product that you put on is very impressive. We'd like to have a chat about some things she's thinking about. And so her and I got on a call. We hadn't spoken since 2016.

[00:05:14]>> Did you think it was boxing related?

[00:05:16]>> No, I I didn't I I didn't think it was boxing related. I thought it was either going to be MMA related or some type of series or movie or something of that nature or a desire to be involved with MVP to help promote the the women's platform that we're building there.

[00:05:33]That's what I thought it was going to be.

[00:05:34]>> And Off the Jump, is it the Gina fight?

[00:05:36]>> Off the jump it was the Gina fight. And off the jump, I said, "Absolutely. This makes all the sense in the world."

[00:05:42]>> Didn't even have to think about it.

[00:05:43]>> People don't appreciate the biggest pay-per-view since the pandemic, the COVID pandemic is Mike Tyson versus Roy Jones. Co-main event, Jake Paul versus Nate Robinson, right? A legend, two legends in Roy and Mike and Jake Paul.

[00:05:59]And then obviously the biggest event since the Muhammad Ali days in terms of viewership is Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson. So when you think about Aronda Rousey, which is a true crossover name, not just endemic to MMA in any way, shape, or form, and then you think about Gina Carano, who an originator in women's MMA, but a Hollywood star who had a falling out and got attention because of that falling out. For them to come back together again, that sounds like the perfect story to tell.

[00:06:29]>> And so, do you know that she has already talked to the UFC when this >> when the when the email came in? know on the conversation she like, you know, shared with me that there have been discussions with the UFC. There was, you know, a plan to do it in 2025 as a pay-per-view. And then when their model changed, they couldn't do it anymore because Gina needed more time. She felt like she needed more time to be her best self because she wanted this to be as competitive as possible. And so that's when they came to us.

[00:06:59]>> Were you surprised UFC ultimately didn't go after this?

[00:07:02]>> I mean, they went after it, right? But I think the model changed for them and they had to take more risk and less margin than they probably want to do.

[00:07:11]>> But ultimately, okay, went after it. Are you surprised they didn't ultimately do it? Like this is a >> no >> mega name that did so much for the company against another mega name who never fought for the company feels like a layup. Feels like something Paramount would want.

[00:07:24]>> They're in a unique situation, right?

[00:07:25]They've signed a seven-year deal that doesn't really need to window them renewing for another three and a half to four years. So, I see them doing like one or two really big things a year, which is the White House card is definitely going to be very big. And I've heard Conor McGregor is coming back, which uh will be amazing for the sport, right? He's he's such a character. He's he's he's a leader of of kind of grabbing attention for for MMA, but I don't see them doing much more than that in terms of impacting their margins because they have a great uh commitment from Paramount. They have great sponsors, great live events, business, and and fighters are are happy to be there at some level, I guess. So, they're going to continue doing what they're doing.

[00:08:07]>> Are you saying that based on what you're seeing or what's to come? Meanwhile, do you feel like they can now be on cruise control because they don't have to sell pay-per-views, they don't have to market, it's all just sort of bought and paid for, or are you giving us a hint that, hey, because of the nature of this deal, it's going to change?

[00:08:23]>> I think it's it's what we're already seeing at some level, right? When you have a renewal of that magnitude, you would hope there'd be more structural change to improve fighter compensation, uh, fighter pensions in the future. And you haven't seen that. And they're a public company. They're going to focus on EBAM margin, right? And making sure their shareholders feel good about the business. When you took this idea to Netflix, were they in right away? They've never done MMA before.

[00:08:55]Yeah, they were they were very supportive and they they thought this was a unique kind of convergence of of names. They were excited about having a Francis or a Nate on the card with Ronda, which was the ideas that we discussed with them. And we're now in a fortunate position where we have both Francis and Nate on the card. So, it's Yeah, I think everyone was excited is excited and I expect a great night on Saturday. When we first started, you said MMA wasn't a part of the plan. Now it's here. Now it's about to start. You hear things from Rhonda about future, about minimum pay and all that. Has the plan now changed? Is MVP MMA a thing as a result of this? Maybe it wasn't what you set out to do, but is it now a thing?

[00:09:40]>> We certainly hope so. We >> When did that happen? When did that shift happen from oneoff to like, oh, we hope to be >> I'll say the last couple of months and spending more and more time with Rhonda.

[00:09:49]You know, when she approached me and said, uh, I can't be your Connor, but I want to be your Dana. And I said, well, I'm certainly no Lorenzo Fertitta. I can't walk a mile in that man's shoes, but I appreciate the the sentiment, and let's see how the next few months go, and if this event does well, let's have a discussion about it. And I've been blown away. I think she's done a tremendous job in bringing attention to the event, in promoting not just this event, but the need for change and evolution within the sport. And I would like nothing more than to continue being in business with her.

[00:10:23]>> And so, is that the plan?

[00:10:25]>> That is the plan, assuming Saturday night goes well, which everyone that's watching this, I hope you're hoping it goes well because it means more opportunity for fighters. It means alternatives. It means expansion of the fan base cuz if it goes well with Netflix and we do more with Netflix just like we have in boxing that's only good for MMA. It's not bad.

[00:10:45]>> And so when you say go well goes well what does that mean? What does that mean to you >> from a viewership perspective? Right.

[00:10:51]Like when I look at boxing we brought professional sports to Netflix. We did the first ever professional sporting event on Netflix.

[00:10:59]Jake Paul versus Mike Tyson. Total of 125 million viewers. I believe that's a one ofone event. It's going to be hard to replicate that ever. But there's been two other big boxing events on the platform. Canelo versus Crawford and Jake Paul versus Anthony Joshua. 33 million viewers, 41 million viewers. And then we've had two other boxing events.

[00:11:21]One very meaningful Taylor Serrano 3 all women's card. Publicly they put out there 6 million and change in terms of viewership. And then Tyson Fury recently came back and you know I think they put out there he did 5 million in the UK which I would assume means they did six to seven million globally. So what is big MMA on Netflix? How successful is it? Is it Taylor Serrano Tyson Fury fighting Mmov I think was his name.

[00:11:46]>> Makmoudov.

[00:11:47]>> Mmud or is it Jake Joshua? Is it Canelo Crawford? And that will help us determine what the path forward is.

[00:11:54]>> What do you think? What is it? I think it should be at least somewhere in between, but I think there's people that we speak to and think that this could do Jake Joshua Canelo Crawford type numbers. I mean, listen, you could say what you want about, you know, Rhonda hasn't fought in 10 years. Gina hasn't fought in 17 years. Nate Diaz isn't in his prime. Um, but those are massive names. And you had Francis Ningan, who I believe is the best heavyweight in the world. There's never been a composition of a card with this much star power under one umbrella that you don't have to pay for. So, let's see how big MMA is, right? And then let's see how much this touches the mainstream because Ronda touches the mainstream. Ronda was a crossover star. Ronda did go in the WWE. Gina Carano is a movie star, is a, you know, cast member of the Mandalorian. And so when you put all of those things together, plus a very strong rest of card with some legends, with some top current fighters, with some great prospects, I'm excited to see the outcome.

[00:12:52]>> Yesterday, Jake said 20 million. That's what he was hoping for and would be happy with.

[00:12:56]>> He wants $20 million.

[00:12:58]>> Uh, no. I think he gets more than that viewers on Netflix.

[00:13:03]>> Do you share that? Do you think that that's attainable?

[00:13:06]>> I think it's definitely attainable. I think that'd be a great uh great outcome. You know, I've heard a lot of people say, including yourself, this will be the most viewed MMA event in history. I just want to remind folks that in the peak of Anderson Silva at the UFC, we had a great relationship with the Mourinho family at Globo and Anderson's fights were on freetoair on broadcast uh in Brazil. And when Anderson fought, the country stopped and Global had like 70% market share. So, I don't know if we're going to beat the Brazil number, but outside of Brazil, I feel like this could be the biggest event ever.

[00:13:40]>> Okay. I guess I was thinking about the United States, which is very uh ethnosentric of me. What did those get, by the way?

[00:13:48]>> Like Anderson back in the day, like was it over 10?

[00:13:51]>> He would have like 40 to >> 60% market share of TVs that were on.

[00:13:56]>> Wow.

[00:13:57]>> So, you know, depending on how many TVs were on, at least half of them were watching Anderson Silva.

[00:14:02]>> So, it's interesting. This feels like the first time that a new player has come in and tried to like go for it off the bat. Not not a knock at WSOF or PFL or even Bellator, but there was like a slow build there when Strikeforce took over the Elite XC contract and and then took their TV deal as well. Elite XC went down in 2008 and then 2009, here comes Strikeforce. took all the remaining pieces which included the likes of you know Nick Diaz and others who were available Robbie Lawler they then got the Showtime deal and they went for it right for two years and then of course you know what happened >> the difference is >> Nick Diaz was available Robbie Lawler was available Alistar Overim there was Luke Rockold Daniel Cormier etc me if I'm wrong there's not a lot of guys just sort of floating out there who aren't tied up and so my question is how difficult was it once you got past all right Gina's in Rhonda's in to put together a card that you felt was worthy of this stage.

[00:15:01]>> It was look, it was strategic in terms of Nate and Francis and then the rest of it was talking to different folks within the industry and really figuring out how can we put things together that connect MMA, right? If you look at Eileen Pereira, obviously the sister of Alex Pereira. So connecting those two dots and she's from Brazil and she's a woman and we want to give other women opportunities on this card. If you look at um Namo Fazil, right, and his energy and his character and what he brings, we were excited about that. If you look at Junior Dos Santos hitting Brazil, not just with Philippe Lind, but also with JDS, a legend, uh former champion, record holder in the US in terms of viewership, right, on Fox in 2011, first ever UFC event on Fox broadcast. So, we feel like we were putting together a great card. It it took some time with Nate, right? Nate was the last to effectively get announced, but that's that what was his quote yesterday. I don't I don't I don't plan to be late.

[00:16:03]I'm I'm just late or whatever he said.

[00:16:05]That was the same thing for this card.

[00:16:07]>> Uh he told me when we spoke on Sunday, he did speak to the UFC and he did consider what they were offering. He didn't like that they were offering Connor. He has his reasons. Did you get into a bidding war there? How did that play out?

[00:16:20]>> I think we offered less, right? But we gave them flexibility.

[00:16:23]>> Uh truthfully, it's a one fight deal, but we always believe that we will show you why we deserve to be your promoter.

[00:16:32]And you know, we we feel great about how it's gone with him and his team and platinum. Mike Perry, he's been amazing.

[00:16:39]I mean, what a professional he has become, not just inside the cage or the ring, but also outside of it. So, we're we're we're good. Uh Francis has said that the original plan was Rico and he has said since he's still hoping that it's Rico. A were you disappointed when Rico chose the Usyk fight and B are you interested in putting on that fight?

[00:16:59]>> Wasn't disappointed because Rico was pretty transparent with us so we knew that was likely the outcome and it was a matter of he'd made a commitment and he didn't want to back out of his commitment and you have to respect that.

[00:17:11]You have to acknowledge that's the right thing to do. depends on how he does with Usyk, right? Like hopefully he has a great showing and then there's demand for him to do more in combat sports, whether it's boxing or MMA with Francis.

[00:17:24]You know, we look at it as whether it's Francis or Phipe, whether it's Nate or Mike, whether it's Ronda or Gina, there's events that come out of this that are big headliners themselves. Uh the one name that I think excited a lot of the hardcore fans was Saladine Parnass. Um hardcore fans know him. And what I think what I like about this card, and I'm not trying to glaze, as the kids like to say, but you you've got pioneers, trailblazers, champions. I consider Francis a champion, superstars, big-time prospects. You've got the full range, and I like that. Parnas is one of those guys that the hardcores know from KSW, multiple time champion, multiple division champion, >> best fighter from France.

[00:18:03]>> You said it. Can I ask though, what is his status? Is he free from KSW? Like, if you want to do more with him, can you do more with him? that's that's not been clear to us. We basically did a provision of services through KSW. I will say, you know, he's been he's been great to work with. He's been very pro MVP through this process in terms of promoting the event, promoting our brand, and I'm excited for him to get his debut on a global platform for the world to see him. He looks to be very marketable and obviously his fighting style is exciting. So, let's see how it plays out.

[00:18:33]>> Can you explain what happened with Maky?

[00:18:35]Actually, his P1 visa got approved yesterday.

[00:18:39]>> Come on.

[00:18:39]>> 100%. So, uh, he's based out of the UK.

[00:18:42]London is one of the busiest US embassies in the world in terms of appointments. He can travel to the US on a tourist visa, no problem. But to compete uh, at a professional life sporting event, you need a specific visa and that just takes time to process. And unfortunately, it took longer than we wanted it to, and it was approved today.

[00:19:01]So, yesterday, >> he's not going to fight on the card.

[00:19:02]>> He's not. No, it's too late.

[00:19:04]I do like Fumi.

[00:19:05]>> Yeah, >> his replacement. Alli Quint has been blowing me up about him for years, feeling that he's not getting his opportunities. So, it's a nice replacement.

[00:19:12]>> Oh, absolutely.

[00:19:13]>> Against Adriana Morice. Yesterday, Ronda Rousey said absolutely one and done. I'm not fighting after this.

[00:19:19]>> Do you believe her?

[00:19:20]>> I do believe her. I hope we can change her mind. Okay. But I do believe her.

[00:19:24]Yes.

[00:19:25]>> So, you have plans that you'd like to pitch her on? I mean, look, uh, if she wins or Gina wins, we obviously promote Holly home, and that would be a dream fight for us to see either of them, uh, fight Holly, but it's ultimately up to them, right? Like fighters have to want to make the fight happen.

[00:19:44]>> In a perfect world, how many MMA shows would you want to put on in a year? In a perfect world, what do you think is attainable?

[00:19:50]>> I think when we think about the go forward, it's four to six to start and then strategically grow from there.

[00:19:56]>> Okay. And would that be this year or next year?

[00:19:59]>> I think it's it's focused on 2027, right?

[00:20:02]>> Can you do both? Well, can you do boxing and MMA? No one's ever tried that.

[00:20:05]Obviously, the UFC is doing that now or TKO, but like it's different, right? I mean, they've got a 30-year head start and it's a massive company. No one has ever been successful in doing both at the same time. Can you?

[00:20:16]>> We can and we will because it's a competitive advantage given the way that we think and approach about approach it.

[00:20:22]It's it's a it's an opportunity to create for athletes the ability to fight in both sports, right? I think that's one of the biggest things that uh TKO has the ability to do. I don't know why they're not doing it. And you think about the biggest moment in UFC history.

[00:20:40]It's actually Conor McGregor fighting Floyd Mayweather >> by far by any metric, revenue, views, attention, engagement. So I think you know we we feel like being fighter first being opportunity first to be able to do this and balance it the right way it actually just creates a more um enticing environment for fighters to be a part of. So you say the the hope the goal four to six is that the actual plan like do you have a commitment from anyone to put on these four to six where >> we have a commitment from nobody as of today but similar to when we did Paul Tyson you know many people asked you know are you going to do more with Netflix and what I said then and what I'm saying now about MMA is if it goes well I anticipate we will do more how that looks and what it's structured like is TBD I actually think MMA is easier to make an impact in than boxing Because in boxing, there's seven or eight of us that are well-known promoters that compete on any given night for the biggest events. In MMA, it's really UFC, right? Like, kudos to PFL. They've been investing for, you know, five years, six years, but they haven't gotten to a place where people say, "Oh, UFC is putting on a great show. Oh, PFL's got a big show on." That doesn't happen too often.

[00:21:57]>> And I think there's that opportunity.

[00:22:00]There's that gap within MMA and we can fill that gap particularly if we have the ability to do it with Netflix.

[00:22:05]>> One of the intriguing things at least for me I love this stuff is how it's going to look. What can you tell us about how it's going to actually look on Saturday? We know the cage will be a hexagon.

[00:22:14]>> Yes.

[00:22:15]>> Uh we were just talking to Chris Ave about or Aila about uh he can have Echo on his shorts and Santa Cruz and sponsors like we miss the sponsors. I like the fact that people can have a representation of who they are on their shorts. What what can you tell us about the walkouts? How's this going to look?

[00:22:30]Cuz we always fixate on these things.

[00:22:31]>> Well, for for uh sake of background, I I spearheaded the athlete outfitting policy at the UFC, right?

[00:22:38]>> Which I hate, by the way. I just >> Which which was driven by growing the sport, right? It was driven by getting media partners like ESPN comfortable with partnering with the UFC and creating more opportunity. I will say that strategic plan that was put in place had fighters at this point, 10 years later, making a lot more money than they are. So that that was the vision. That was the implementation with Reebok. I've seen the uh back and forth on the Venom outfits that they have for the White House. You know, people at the time didn't like the Reebok outfits. And I don't think it's a big consumer products business, but it is a way to elevate the sport for for the masses cuz MMA, I would say, generally isn't as um you know, it's it's a rougher sport than boxing. So part of that was cleaning the image of it, but it was definitely fighters were going to make more by this point. When we started MVP, Jake and I definitely talked about that as a possibility, but we both clearly aligned on we want fighters to have their individuality and have the opportunity to make extra money where they can cuz we're not in a position yet like the UFC is to meaningfully provide to have the athlete outfitting policy. When you look at what we've done with Netflix, same thing. We've maintained the flexibility of athletes in the boxing events and now in this MMA event to have sponsors uh on their walkout gear, on their fight shorts, on their fight top if they're wearing one. And so I'm excited about that. There's obviously categories that you can't have sponsors from. And there's specific names once in a while that may not get approved because they're an illegal this or they're not regulated in that, but overall there it's a great opportunity for fighters to earn additional income.

[00:24:22]>> Rhonda's talked about minimum pay and all this stuff. How much are you on board with that? Obviously, when we were first introduced to you guys, Jake's talking about unions. He's talking a lot about MMA fighters.

[00:24:32]>> When I met Jake Paul the first time when he was 22, he said, "I want to start a fighters union." And I said, "I'm not your guy, but I I appreciate the sentiment." Uh, I think if we're looking at this event and anything we do going forward as MVP, as an independent entity to have a minimum of $40,000 uh, for fighters to fight in MMA.

[00:24:51]>> Wow. So, so even if you're fighting like first fight of the night, 40k, is it show winin model?

[00:24:57]>> No, that's that's guaranteed. And then every fighter has a performance bonus in addition to that, >> which is depends on the fighter.

[00:25:04]>> Oh, it's not. Okay. So, it's not like we're giving X amount for the fight of the night. Are you doing that because you do that in boxing?

[00:25:10]>> We we will have a fighter tonight. Jake and I need to to kind of discuss it and and we'll announce it at the right time, but every fighter does have a performance bonus uh incentive as well.

[00:25:19]>> And is the 40k base being implemented for this card?

[00:25:23]>> Yes.

[00:25:23]>> Wow. Okay. All right. And that's what you'd like to see moving forward?

[00:25:26]>> Absolutely.

[00:25:27]>> Uh speaking of Mr. Paula, he did make some headlines yesterday saying his >> on your show.

[00:25:32]>> Yes. Thank you for that. uh saying that uh his fighting career is actually up in the air, that there are people telling him that he should retire, doctors in his life, the jaw. Do you think there's a chance he fought his last fight?

[00:25:44]>> I think of course there's a chance, just like I think there's a chance Conor McGregor fought his last fight 5 years ago, but I keep hearing from you on your show that any day they're going to announce he's coming back. But >> the reality is >> we will not know if Jake Paul is coming back until he's sparring and gets hit in the jaw, right?

[00:26:01]>> He's a ways away. the the plan is for him to come back at the end of the year.

[00:26:04]That's what we're targeting.

[00:26:06]>> Okay.

[00:26:06]>> But he's he's going back to his doctor this week and we'll we'll just continue to play it by ear.

[00:26:12]>> Would you be in favor of him stopping?

[00:26:14]Do you think that's a smart thing?

[00:26:16]>> I think whatever is best for him to do, we're supportive of. Right. Like Jake's a much bigger asset to the company outside the ring than inside the ring.

[00:26:23]So in many ways, if he's less focused on fighting, he's more focused on promoting and building the next generation of talent. Given the injury, do you have regrets about making the fight?

[00:26:35]>> No. And I don't think he has any regrets. Right.

[00:26:38]>> He said that yesterday.

[00:26:39]>> And again, it's not I didn't make the fight. I facilitated the fight. Right. I could have said, "Hey, I'm not going to help you do this. Good luck." But that's really not logical.

[00:26:47]>> Ultimately, it's what he wanted to do and we found a way to get it done. And I think I think he did tremendously well, no matter what anyone wants to say.

[00:26:56]>> So, you've had two MVPW events. Third one coming up May 30th. El Paso. Um Stephanie >> sold out event in El Paso, Texas.

[00:27:05]>> Stephanie Han Holly home rematch, which I'm excited to see. And >> look, Amanda Serrano reached out to Jake and I and said, "I want to go to El Paso and I want to fight before >> Stephanie Han in her hometown because she did it for me in January and came to San Juan. So, we were excited to add Amanda Serrano on ESPN. She's accomplished a lot in her life. This will be her first fight on ESPN. two other championship fights on the main card. So, it's four back-to-back top level championship fights and it should be a great event.

[00:27:38]>> Srano fighting at 126.

[00:27:39]>> Yes.

[00:27:40]>> I did see news today of Ellie Scottney moving up to 126.

[00:27:44]>> Yes.

[00:27:44]>> Is that the fight you want to make?

[00:27:46]>> I think that's the fight Ellie wants to make. And if Amanda wants to do it, we'd love to see that fight. Right. end of the day, when you get to Amanda's level, when you get to Katie Taylor's level, you decide who you want to fight, when you want to fight, and we do our best to put it together.

[00:27:59]>> I really wanted to see Ellie versus Sky Nicholson before she moved up. But I guess I guess >> look, Ellie struggled with weight for the past two years, and just seeing her go through that process uh was impressive that she was able to do it, but also understood that as soon as she got her goal, she'd probably come to the conclusion that she doesn't want to punish her body anymore. She doesn't want to punish her hair anymore. Her hair was falling out from the way cuts and so we fully support her decision and it creates an open playing field.

[00:28:27]>> Sure, Alicia Bumgardner gets mad at me when I bring up Caroline Dubois.

[00:28:31]>> Why?

[00:28:32]>> I think she doesn't think she's on her level. She's a C-level fighter, a D level. It's hard to keep up. But that to me is the fight to make. I don't think that we're going to get Alicia versus Amanda, right?

[00:28:41]>> I don't see that happening in the near term. No >> versus Katie.

[00:28:44]>> No, absolutely not.

[00:28:45]>> So why not? That's the one. I think look, Alisa is looking for the biggest fights. At the same time, she just fought Bomi Rian who is an amazing fighter, but I would say she's at the same level, if not slightly, uh below Caroline Dubois, right? Caroline beat her. So, I think yes, you could make the argument that, hey, you want to come and fight me, you need to win some more belts because you want me to step up to 135 because I don't think at least uh Caroline can cut it that below 135. and you need to do three minute rounds. And so we've been in discussions with Alicia on it and and we'll see where it leads to.

[00:29:21]>> How many tickets do you expect to sell Saturday?

[00:29:24]>> Uh probably I would say, you know, 14 to 15,000. Um >> are you happy with that?

[00:29:30]>> Very happy with that. You know, it's it's a it's an interesting environment in in the economy with gas prices where they're at. There is uh just I think delayed buying behavior across the board. You've seen it with the UFC and Miami. you saw with UFC in New York and it'll be a full house.

[00:29:48]>> And as far as you're not going to tell me, but do you already have like future fights that you're thinking about? Have you allowed yourself to even go there or you really want to focus on Saturday and that's it?

[00:29:59]Like do you >> No, we we've thought about a lot of future fights. Absolutely.

[00:30:02]>> What can you tell us?

[00:30:02]>> Nothing to tell. Nothing to share here.

[00:30:04]But the hope is that Saturday goes well and and there's more to come and Rhonda will be a part of that.

[00:30:09]>> Does it feel like a sort of I don't know full circle moment for you? You alluded to this at the top, but like you got into all of this and now you're putting on an MMA event. Um, when I think at one point, weren't you just like the accountant there or something?

[00:30:22]>> I'm just joking. But does it feel full circle for you here?

[00:30:25]>> I I think look, it it feels like this is what was meant to be, right? I started MVP with Jake and women's boxing was a priority because of Ronda Rousey. I worked on Ronda Rousey's contracts and I was there when she became the face of our sport. And I remember exactly where I was when she lost to Holly Holm. And I reflect on the pressure on that young woman and what she had on her shoulders and what she went through and she dealt with it in her own way, not having the experience she does today. And so just just to be alongside her, the best version of her, the promoter she's become, I think she's more well-rounded as a fighter. That in itself is probably the most special part of this. And then being able to do this with Jake four and a half years in on the biggest level with the biggest fighters in the world.

[00:31:13]It's it's definitely um it's definitely a great moment.

[00:31:17]>> Last thing cuz I know you have to go and we could probably do 30 minutes just on this, but as far as the state of boxing in this country, Aliak this and that, Zufa now signing more guys, Shakur and all these guys seem to be coming over as well. How do you feel about the way things are going with what they're doing over there? I've said from from the jump, Sufa Zufa is going to be a long-term player. They're well capitalized. They're smart people. They have a good TV partner. And I just wish the Ali Act required a 50% revenue share. If it did that, I couldn't care about anything else, right? Cuz I do believe the UFC is the best promotional entity that there was there is and there will be for a long time.

[00:31:57]>> And they can bring that to boxing. They can bring that to the sport. But just make a commitment to share revenue fairly with the athletes and you have my full 100% support.

[00:32:07]>> Can I ask what's the breakdown on Saturday >> in terms of >> the revenue share?

[00:32:12]>> Much higher than 50% to the fighters.

[00:32:14]>> Really? Yeah.

[00:32:15]>> What what what ballpark?

[00:32:17]>> Just much higher.

[00:32:18]>> Okay.

[00:32:18]>> Yeah. Our objective is to not lose money to obviously make a little bit of money, but it's really about putting the money back in the pocket of the fighters.

[00:32:27]They're the ones risking their lives.

[00:32:28]They're the ones that people are paying to see and we feel like we've lived up to that to this point and we're going to continue to live up to that.

[00:32:34]>> Incredible. Thank you. Appreciate it. I know you're very busy. Nikisa Bedarian, co-founder of MVP, CEO of MVP, doing big things Saturday on Netflix. First ever MMA card on Netflix. First ever MVP MMA card. Incredible stuff. Looking forward to seeing how the week rolls on.

[00:32:50]Appreciate your time very much. Don't go anywhere. The great Travis Barker joining us in studio in a matter of moments. He'll be up next. Thanks for watching this video. Before you go, if you haven't already, hit that subscribe button for us. Also, give us a thumbs up, leave a nice comment. These things go a long way. And while you're here, do check out the rest of the channel. We've got live shows and full interviews, clips, and a whole lot more. We're doing big things here, and we appreciate your support very much.