UFC Legend Claims Ronda Rousey Netflix Deal is Sign Conor McGregor Won’t Return for White House Fight

After the massive announcement of Ronda Rousey's return, Chael Sonnen has an interesting perspective regarding the UFC White House card.

UFC Legend Claims Ronda Rousey Netflix Deal is Sign Conor McGregor Won’t Return for White House Fight

Chael Sonnen talks about the UFC ignoring Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano (via X)

One of the most shocking announcements last week was the proposed MMA fight between Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano under Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions. The 5-round featherweight bout is reportedly scheduled for May 16 at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles, creating massive anticipation across combat sports circles.

Before the announcement, Rousey allegedly approached Dana White for her combat sports return, and according to UFC veteran Chael Sonnen, it signals a major shift for the UFC. While the UFC CEO rejected the proposal this time around, White wanted to make Ronda Rousey vs. Carano back in 2014. However, negotiations didn’t work out at that moment.

In a recent YouTube video, Sonnen connected this to the future potential big fights at the upcoming White House event scheduled for June 2026.

They turned down Ronda. I think that kind of lets us know that they are not gonna do anything weird. They are not gonna bring people back and have one offs. I don’t know where the Conor rumor stands at. Conor himself says, ’I’m not under contract’. Not to mention that Conor’s got no opponent, they pulled Chandler from him. 

Chael Sonnen via his YouTube 

Conor McGregor has been extremely vocal about fighting at a potential White House event and continues dropping significant hints. The former two-division champion has been seen training intensely, working on conditioning and sharpness ahead of his anticipated comeback.

Dana White previously addressed the possibility, yet there have been no official updates regarding negotiations or finalized plans. With Michael Chandler potentially out of contention, questions remain about finding a suitable opponent for the Irishman’s Octagon return.

According to Sonnen, this could be the same reason why White has not been open about Jon Jones fighting at the White House. For the unversed, ‘Bones’ has been called out by the current light heavyweight champion, Alex Pereira, many times, and fans are hyped for this match-up. On the other hand, the excitement surrounding Rousey versus Carano felt undeniably real given their WMMA history.

Ronda Rousey talks about UFC vs. MVP rivalry with her upcoming fight 

The rivalry between Dana White and the MVP founder, Jake Paul, has been going on publicly for a long time. ‘The Problem Child’ has repeatedly criticized the UFC and Dana White for policies that he believes deny fighters proper benefits. He often argues that fighters are not paid what they truly deserve despite generating massive revenue.

Ronda Rousey and Dana White
Ronda Rousey and Dana White (via X)

Fighter pay has consistently remained a major topic of debate within the mixed martial arts community. Recently, top middleweight Sean Strickland even called the organization predatory because of its strict contractual policies.

During her announcement post, Rousey made a subtle remark by calling MVP a ‘fighter first’ promotion as a diss. According to the former women’s bantamweight champion, this upcoming fight against Gina Carano is much more than two women veterans fighting and has a deeper competitive history. 

The story and everything behind it. It’s not just this fight but a lot of it is MVP vs. UFC. I’m gonna go real hard in the trenches. We’re helping [the UFC]. They’re suffering from a lack of competition. They can’t just make a class action lawsuit every couple of years… I’m trying to help Dana out.

Ronda Rousey via Most Valuable Promotions 

During the press conference at UFC Houston, White was asked about this event, and he mentioned that he’s happy for Ronda Rousey. According to White, he had a bad relationship with Gina Carano, but over time, it has shifted and gotten better. Nevertheless, it would be interesting to see whether MVP can pull off this event and make it work as potentially one of the biggest fights of 2026.

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