$182k per second: Eye-watering figures revealed as fight world turns on 'trash' Netflix event

Ronda Rousey's comeback to combat sports might have been short-lived, but the former UFC champion took home plenty of cash for her efforts.

In one of the most anticipated fights of the year, Rousey ended a 10-year hiatus from mixed martial arts on a Netflix event with a clinical win over Gina Carano.

Rousey did exactly what she told Wide World of Sports she would do in the main event, almost immediately taking her opponent down to the mat from the opening ball and within 17 seconds the fight was over as Carano submitted to a vintage armbar.

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The pair embraced and hugged straight after the fight, which wasn't a great surprise given the mutual respect between them and Rousey revealing it was Carano who inspired her to come out of retirement and attempt to change the business.

It marked the first MMA event promoted by Jake Paul's Most Valuable Promotions and had plenty of interest from both hardcore and casual fight fans.

Paul and business partner Nakisa Bidarian have helped reshape the combat sports model, giving fighters another landing spot to earn mega bucks - and that was exactly the case for Rousey, Carano and plenty of others on Sunday (AEST).

According to reports from MMA Junkie after the fight, Rousey pocketed a minimum of $3.1 million AUD for her first fight in almost a decade - meaning she earned an insane $182,352 for every second of her short-lived fight against Carano.

Carano earned an estimated $1.5 million despite the loss, while co-main eventers Nate Diaz ($700,000) and Mike Perry ($560,000) both took home a hefty pay cheque.

Heavyweight superstar Francis Ngannou also earned $2.1 million for his knockout win.

While the top-line fighters were relatively well-compensated, fans were left wanting more after all five bouts on the main card failed to reach a third round.

The longest fight on the card was Diaz's gruesome and bloody loss to Perry, which was called off by the doctors at the conclusion of round two.

One of the biggest cult heroes in MMA history, the 41-year-old Diaz copped a brutal hammering at the hands of Perry, with multiple cuts to his face and head.

In the other fights, Ngannou defeated Philipe Lins in 4:31 via knockout, Salahdine Parnasse stopped Kenneth Cross in 4:18 and Junior dos Santos was knocked out by Robelis Despaigne in 2:59 all coming before the 17-second Rousey-Carano clash.

The reaction to the event on social media was mixed, with plenty seeing the positive side and praising the positive first step for MVP into a new area of the fight game - but the overwhelming response from within the fight community was brutal.

"What trash," veteran boxing journalist Dan Rafael said via X.

"Rousey submits Carano in like 15 seconds with an arm bar. Ran right at her, took her down and that it's. They've been hugging it out longer than the fight lasted."

Hall of Fame boxing announcer Al Bernstein labelled the fight "absurd" in response.

Plenty of fighters also reacted to the Rousey-Carano result on social media too.

One of Rousey's former rivals in Amanda Nunes offering a simple eye-roll emoji, while Cris Cyborg posted with three laughing emojis.

Former PFL and Bellator champion Corey Anderson made his feelings known, while former UFC fighter turned WWE star Valerie Loureda wasn't pleased.

"Just glad I didn't have to pay for that," he said via X.

"I'd be pissed if not only did I stay up til midnight but dropped $60 on a 17-second finish ... great finish tho [sic]."

Dana White attempted to take some shine off the event while it was unfolding, posting to social media to confirm Conor McGregor's blockbuster UFC return after five years, right as Ngannou was making his way out to the cage.

Despite some of the negative reaction to the first-ever MMA card on Netflix, the brash Paul believes his promotion can take some shine away from the UFC.

"MVP is just getting warmed up in MMA and you're going to see a lot of us" he said.

"White House, Dana White, all of you - be prepared, because this is a takeover."

Whether the Paul-led promotion becomes a legitimate competitor for the UFC remains to be seen - but their first foray into the sport certainly got people talking.