MMA Weekend Recap: MVP MMA 1 Delivers, Malykhin Retires as 3-Division ONE Champ

Two major cards in one weekend — Netflix’s MVP MMA 1 and ONE Championship in Bangkok — gave MMA fans more than they bargained for. Here’s what went down.

MVP MMA 1 — May 16 (Netflix, Intuit Dome, Los Angeles)

Jake Paul’s promotion put on a stacked card and mostly delivered.

• Ronda Rousey def. Gina Carano — Armbar, R1 (0:17). One of the fastest finishes on the card. Rousey reminded everyone that armbar is still her calling card at 38.
• Mike Perry def. Nate Diaz — Corner stoppage, R2. Diaz’s corner threw in the towel. Hard to watch, but the Diaz era is officially over.
• Francis Ngannou def. Philipe Lins — KO, R1. Still the most dangerous heavyweight on the planet. It wasn’t a contest.
• Despaigne def. Junior Dos Santos — KO, R1. JDS looked done. Two legends finished in one night.
• Marlon Moraes def. Nkuta — TKO sub, R3. Moraes looked sharp — good sign for his career revival.

ONE Championship — May 15 (Lumpinee Stadium, Bangkok)

Anatoly Malykhin def. Reug Reug via KO, R4 — reclaims the ONE Heavyweight Championship. This was revenge for Reug Reug’s split decision win in 2024. Malykhin waited, picked his shots, and timed Kane perfectly.

Then it got chaotic. Malykhin landed late shots on the downed Kane. Kane’s corner stormed the ring. A full brawl broke out. In the middle of the chaos, Malykhin pulled off his gloves and announced his retirement — walking away as a 3-division ONE champion.

Whether the retirement sticks remains to be seen, but the moment was pure theater.

What It Means for Grapplers

Rousey’s finish and Malykhin’s patient, calculated KO both tell the same story: ground game and timing win big moments. Chimaev couldn’t take Strickland down last week. Reug Reug’s wrestling couldn’t neutralize Malykhin’s read on the fight. The pattern holds.

Big weekend. More coming.