Adding Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry shows MVP knows what's possible with MMA on Netflix — and what's promotable

Well, it’s happening. Through a series of gestures, none of them particularly subtle, MVP’s MMA debut on Netflix has gradually turned all the way into a capital letter "Event."

It started with Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano. Then came Francis Ngannou vs. Philipe Lins. And now we learn it will also include Nate Diaz vs. Mike Perry.

Visit djcc.club for more information.

These three bouts, we’re told, will be headliners in their own right — a triple-header, which typically isn’t a thing in fight sports — at MVP’s May 16 event in Los Angeles. None of these fights is anything you’d call necessary or even all that relevant in the broader landscape of MMA in the year 2026. All of them come with an obvious drawing power that will get butts in seats and eyes on screens when the night arrives — and together they demonstrate an understanding of what’s actually possible and maybe even marketable in the sport outside the UFC right now.

You’re not going to make your way as an MMA competitor claiming you have the best fighting the best. Not in MMA, where most of the best are currently locked down in UFC contracts (whether they’re happy with those deals or not). Even if you did have the best, it’s at least debatable whether that’s what audiences want, at least from one of these Netflix one-off events.

The good news is there is still room to operate in this sport. That's because, now more than ever, MMA fans long to be entertained. The UFC offers rankings and endless fight-night content and technically sound mixed martial arts. But, god help us, we still want more of a show. And lately we haven't been getting it from the MMA leader.

Yep, Nate Diaz is still a draw. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)Chris Unger via Getty Images

Enter MVP and Netflix, which understand the hearts and minds of the hoi polloi. Know how many people showed up to watch Terence Crawford fight Canelo Alvarez on Netflix? Around 41 million, according to reports. Know how many watched Jake Paul and Mike Tyson do some fight-adjacent posturing with boxing gloves covering their fists? About 60 million.

One of those was an entirely legit and utterly amazing display of the sweet science between two of the best boxers walking the planet. The other was a glorified exhibition between boxing’s most shameless self-promoter and the living ghost of a former heavyweight champ. 

The viewers rewarded style over substance and hype over rankings — and it wasn’t a particularly close contest.

So of course, when adding to this MVP MMA card, you’d reach for something that’s more sizzle than steak. Diaz and Perry bring that. The latter has been building a bloody, bare-fisted brand of fame over in BKFC, resulting in a small but dedicated audience that won’t hesitate to follow him to Netflix. The former somehow went from man to myth mostly by not fighting, thanks to a shockingly resilient aura that’s made the fight-fan heart grow fonder through absence.

Diaz vs. Perry is one of those fights that doesn’t have to be about anything. It doesn’t even matter who wins. It only matters that they flex and talk and bleed in roughly equal measure. It’s like you’re sitting on a barstool when someone tells you that the two wildest, least civilized dudes in the place are about to settle some business between them out in the parking lot. Are you really going to decide that you’d rather sit there and finish your Miller Lite and stare at your phone in peace?

Each of these fights has a different thing going for it. With Rousey and Carano you’ve got two pioneers of women’s MMA, from two different eras, bringing genuine superstardom and Hollywood-level name recognition into a feel-good fight between respectful peers. With Ngannou and Lins you have the lineal heavyweight champ, a man with an incredible personal story, a person who continues to evoke strong feelings for and against, now taking on … a guy who was available.

With Diaz and Perry you have pure attitude. A couple of certified bad-asses who seem to be taking time off from slapping nightclub patrons and picking fights with bar bouncers to squabble it up with each other. You know they’ll talk a good game beforehand and might even still have enough left in the tank to sling some decent leather when the time comes. Mostly, though, you know you’ll be entertained.

That’s the whole ballgame for MVP on Netflix. Trying to put on the best possible displays of unarmed combat is not the goal. Other people have already staked out that territory, and anyway it doesn’t draw 60 million viewers even when you do it extremely well. Netflix is not trying to hit any singles with these fight-sports ventures. It’s nothing but home run swings, even when that means risking a mighty whiff.

The goal here is big, loud fight-sports shows that are possibly dumb but absolutely unmissable. And, you have to admit, so far the lineup looks primed to deliver exactly that — and probably not a whole lot else.

Read full story at source