The true standout: The impact of Jake Paul and Nakisa Bidarian on women’s boxing

The self-proclaimed “disruptors” of boxing are making their way across the Atlantic.

Jake Paul’s Most Valuable Promotions, which features the largest roster of female boxers globally, will present their inaugural UK event on Sunday in London [Sky Sports in the UK, 7 p.m. GMT, ESPN App in the U.S., 12 p.m. ET].

They are fully committed to this venture.

The event will be highlighted by two world title bouts: Caroline Dubois facing Terri Harper for the unified lightweight championships and Ellie Scotney competing against Mayelli Flores in the co-main event for the undisputed junior featherweight title.

Paul, alongside business partner and MVP co-founder Nakisa Bidarian, has made bold strides in the women’s boxing arena over the past five years, recruiting many of the top talents, including several world champions.

They are also making waves in the MMA sector, promoting the first-ever card on Netflix, headlined by Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano, with a co-main event featuring Francis Ngannou on May 16. Paul, naturally, draws millions of viewers when he fights, having already shared the ring with Tommy Fury, Mike Tyson, and Anthony Joshua in his relatively brief but impactful professional career.

Nonetheless, women’s boxing is the cornerstone of his promotional enterprise and has been since they identified a gap in the market. True to their disruptor philosophy, Paul and Bidarian did not merely test the waters; they dove in headfirst.

Their initial signing? Seven-weight world champion Amanda Serrano.

“We embarked on this journey in 2021 and made Jake Paul’s first pay-per-view [vs. Tyrone Woodley] with Showtime feature Amanda Serrano as the co-main event. People thought we were out of our minds,” Bidarian tells ESPN prior to the announcement of the broadcast deal with MVP.

This, along with Serrano headlining her own events, has served as the model: Enhancing Paul’s undercards with their female athletes, highlighting them and their narratives on significant platforms. They have secured five of ESPN’s top 10 female boxers. The plan moving forward includes more all-female cards on both sides of the Atlantic, with Alycia Baumgardner defending her unified junior lightweight titles in New York on April 17.

Bidarian — who identifies as a businessman first and a self-described “boxing novice” second — joined the UFC in 2011 and ascended to become their chief financial officer around the time Rousey-mania surged and elevated the sport.

This experience provided him insight into the potential of women’s combat sports.

“In 2015, Ronda Rousey was indisputably, by any measure, the top fighter in the UFC — male or female. She was bigger than Conor McGregor,” he explains. “Once we launched MVP, Jake and I agreed on three principles: Prioritizing fighters; providing opportunities for young athletes; and fundamentally … Supporting women’s boxing. I had the belief from my UFC days that this could succeed as a business.”

But why focus specifically on women’s boxing?

“Eddie Hearn often asks me: ‘Why are you pursuing this?'” Bidarian states. “What we perceive that others either overlook or choose to ignore is very clear to us.”

So far, the statistics support his claims. While Hearn has played a significant role in building and promoting arguably the biggest star in women’s boxing, Katie Taylor — collaborating with Bidarian and Paul during Taylor’s trilogy with Serrano — MVP has fully committed to women’s boxing in an unprecedented manner.

Taylor vs. Serrano in 2022 attracted approximately 1.5 million viewers on DAZN, while the second fight served as the co-main event on the Paul-Tyson undercard, which Netflix reports was viewed by 60 million. The trilogy, a historic all-female card that drew over 19,000 attendees at Madison Square Garden, reached an audience of six million on Netflix.

When he speaks, Bidarian’s enthusiasm for women’s sports is palpable. He led the $4 billion sale of the UFC to Endeavour (then WME-IMG) in 2016, declaring it the pinnacle of his career at that time. However, that achievement was surpassed by the record-setting Taylor-Serrano III card at The Garden in July 2025.

MVP has not only pursued the most glamorous fights with established fighters. They have also cultivated talent — like Yokasta Valle — and signed those they believe can emerge as future stars, such as Baumgardner. Bidarian invested time in developing his relationship with Dubois over two years, meeting for dinners and discussing her potential role in the future of women’s boxing.

The Brit signed with MVP in December 2025 and was promptly placed on the Paul-Joshua undercard in Miami that same month.

“Every time I meet with them to discuss the future and what lies ahead, the outlook is very positive,” Dubois tells ESPN.

“You need someone optimistic; you don’t want someone who says, ‘I don’t know how this will unfold, I don’t know if we can secure the funding.'”

“Every time he responds: ‘Yes.’ Every time he states: ‘Alright, this is our plan, and if we can’t proceed this way, we’ll find another way.’

“When Ronda Rousey emerged, she ignited the scene. Regardless of gender, she was once the highest-paid UFC athlete. He witnessed a woman achieve that, and I believe he [Bidarian] was inspired by that.”

However, there remains much work to be accomplished. More disruption is on the horizon.

“I aspire to create an umbrella brand that embodies the finest female fighters in the world, ensuring that championship bouts at the world level are consistently delivered,” Bidarian asserts.

“It may take three years, it may take ten years, but we will reach a point where it stands as its own formidable entity.”