UFC: Ronda Rousey & Jake Paul taunt UFC and Dana White over White House viewing figures
Ronda Rousey and Jake Paul mocked the UFC and Dana White for failing to break Most Valuable Promotions’ MMA attendance record at last week’s White House event.
US broadcaster Paramount said Sunday that UFC 250 Freedom reached 7 million people in the US on Paramount+.
Netflix said Rousey’s 15-second demolition of Gina Carano in May averaged 9.3 million viewers and a “peak audience” of 11.6 million in the US.
Paul, who co-founded MVP with Nakisa Bidarian, wrote of X: “As a boxing promoter, it feels good to wake up today as the greatest MMA promoter.”
Paul has a history of mocking UFC president White, and the MVP-backed Rousey v Carano event has been positioned as a “takeover” of MMA by boxer Paul.
Rousey, who chose to fight on the MVP card instead of the UFC due to fight purse demands, reacted to the news about the viewing figures by targeting UFC chief business officer Hunter Campbell.
“Lmao [laughing my ass off]! “Kiss my ass, Hunter Campbell,” Rousey said.
UFC White House, which featured two championship fights and was held in the south garden of US President Donald Trump’s house, reached an average of 8.2 million viewers in the USA and Latin America.
Paramount said 17 million people watched the event for at least one minute in those countries, including 15.3 million in the United States.
It was stated that the live audience figures were verified by Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, the industry standard for reporting TV viewing metrics.
Streaming giants Netflix did not release any figures outside the US and did not say whether the figures were verified by Nielsen or any other party.
Paramount suggested the UFC would release more global numbers for the White House event.
American Justin Gaethje upset his chances of beating Ilia Topuria in the main event, giving the Trump-fronted event a fairytale ending on the president’s 80th birthday.
Trump supporter Gaethje captured his first UFC lightweight title at the age of 37.
