Two of the biggest female MMA stars of all-time have just agreed to come out of retirement to fight each other in Los Angeles on May 16th, and it’ll air live on Netflix.

This was a blockbuster fight that the UFC had once pursued many years ago, but instead it’s now Jake Paul’s MVP promotion that’s been able to pull off, and given there combined star power and the fact it’s airing on Netflix it’s almost certain to draw a big audience.

Whether it’s actually a good idea or not is another matter though.

The 39-year-old Rousey is not only without a doubt MMA’s biggest ever female star, but also simply one of the sports most famous fighters period. At the peak of her powers she was a global icon as she racked up a slew of 1st round armbar finishes on her way to six successful defenses of the UFC’s bantamweight title, and would go on to draw over 1 million PPV buys on two occasions.

However, Rousey’s fall from grace was sudden and unforgiving as she would suffer a one-sided KO loss to Holly Holm in 2018 and was then TKO’d by Amanda Nunes in just 48 seconds a year later.

That was back in December of 2016, and Rousey has never fought since then, though she did go on to become a major star with WWE pro-wrestling instead for several years before eventually settling down to a quieter farm life while raising her two children with her husband, former UFC fighter Travis Browne.

Rousey had let it be known last year that she had returned to training in MMA, but at the time a comeback seemed unlikely given that around that time she also revealed that she’d actually retired from the sport due to having suffered multiple severe concussions over the years, dating back as far as her days as an Olympic bronze medalist Judoka.

Rousey’s 10-year absence from the sport pales in comparison to the 43-year-old Carano, who was MMA’s first major female star in the late 2000’s, but hasn’t fought in 17 years.

Carano primarily rose to fame fighting for EliteXC at a time when the promotion had several events air to millions of viewers on CBS, and she was an instant hit with fans.

Carano beat the likes of Rosi Sexton, Julie Kedzie, Tonya Evinger and Kaitlin Young to take her record to 7-0, before landing a blockbuster title fight against another famous female fighter Cris Cyborg in the Strikeforce promotion in 2009.

However, Carano came second-best on the night, suffering a TKO loss to Cyborg late in the first round, and afterwards her ongoing popularity led to her being lured away from the sport and into the movie business.

Carano would go on to take the lead role in the star-studded Steven Soderberg movie ‘Haywire’, as well as also appearing in other high-profile films like ‘Fast And Furious 6’ and ‘Deadpool’.

However, Carano’s most celebrated role may have come in 2019 when she was cast as Cara Dune in two seasons of the popular Star Wars tv-series, ‘The Mandalorian’ on Disney+.

Carano has often teased a possible return to MMA over the years, but despite negotiations with Dana White at one stage nothing ever materialized.

However, like Rousey, Carano had let it be known recently that she’d returned to training in MMA, and now she’s finally making a return to the cage.

This is a fight that would have been a massive deal a decade or more ago, and though there’s rightly going to be a large dose of scepticism about it in the present day given their respective ages and long absence from competing, it’s still likely to be the kind of spectacle that will draw a lot of attention in the coming months.