Nakisa Bidarian has built a career by moving between worlds that rarely intersect. From the financial corridors of Wall Street to the investment landscape of Abu Dhabi, and later the executive offices of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), his journey has ultimately led him to one of boxing’s most controversial and commercially influential figures: Jake Paul.
Today, as co-founder and chief executive of Most Valuable Promotions (MVP), Bidarian is pursuing an ambitious vision for the sport. His goal is to challenge boxing’s traditional business model, create greater opportunities for fighters and attract younger audiences through a combination of entertainment, digital influence and high-profile matchups.
Now, Dubai is emerging as a significant part of that strategy.
For Bidarian, the city represents more than a potential destination for major boxing events. It is a place with deep personal connections, a growing appetite for global sporting spectacles and an opportunity to demonstrate how a different approach to promoting fights can generate international attention.
From Wall Street to the UFC
Bidarian’s connection with Dubai began in 1992, when he arrived in the city at the age of 14. He quickly developed an attachment to the place before leaving two years later.
His relationship with Dubai resumed in 2006, when a close friend encouraged him to return and see how rapidly the city was developing. After working on Wall Street, Bidarian returned to the region with Morgan Stanley before joining Mubadala, Abu Dhabi’s sovereign investment company.
It was through Mubadala that he encountered the Fertitta family, the former owners of the UFC. That connection opened the door to a career in combat sports, eventually leading him to become the organisation’s chief strategy officer and chief financial officer.
His time at the UFC provided an inside view of how a combat sports business could develop into a globally recognised entertainment brand. He also played a significant role in the organisation’s sale, gaining experience in corporate strategy, commercial growth and the economics of professional fighting.
Those lessons would later inform his approach to building MVP.
Building a Different Kind of Boxing Business
After leaving the UFC, Bidarian met Jake Paul, the internet personality turned professional boxer whose ability to generate headlines has made him a major figure in modern combat sports.
Together, they founded Most Valuable Promotions with a strategy that differs from the traditional boxing model. Rather than focusing exclusively on established champions and conventional rankings, the company combines high-profile personalities, digital marketing and carefully selected matchups to reach a broader audience.
Bidarian describes MVP as a fighter-first promotion designed to appeal to Generation Z and Generation Alpha, while also creating more opportunities for women in boxing.
The approach reflects a wider shift in sports entertainment, where social media reach, personality and audience engagement can be just as commercially important as sporting credentials.
MVP’s business model draws on Paul’s enormous online following and promotional instincts alongside Bidarian’s experience in finance, corporate development and the management of major sporting properties.
The company has expanded its roster to more than 350 fighters, according to Bidarian, building a platform that extends beyond Paul himself.
For the executive, the long-term opportunity is to create a promotion with its own identity and commercial value rather than relying on a single star to generate interest.
Why Women’s Boxing Is Central to MVP’s Strategy
One of Bidarian’s most significant priorities has been the expansion of women’s boxing. He believes the sport has historically overlooked female fighters despite their potential to attract substantial audiences.
“On the women’s side, we saw a clear opportunity where the men were not paying attention, and now MVP is the de facto reference brand for women’s boxing,” he says.
The promotion has helped bring prominent fighters Amanda Serrano and Katie Taylor together for major events, including their historic contest at Madison Square Garden. Their first meeting in April 2022 became the first women’s boxing bout to headline and sell out the iconic New York venue.
The event demonstrated the commercial potential of elite women’s boxing when supported by strong promotion and a major platform.
Bidarian also points to successful female athletes and combat sports personalities, including Serena Williams and former UFC champion Ronda Rousey, as examples of how women can become major attractions within their respective sports.
For MVP, the opportunity is not simply about increasing representation. It is about developing compelling rivalries, expanding audiences and building a commercially sustainable market for female fighters.
By investing in women’s boxing, the company is seeking to establish itself in an area where it believes traditional promoters have left considerable room for growth.
The Jake Paul Effect: Turning Attention Into Business
Paul remains at the centre of MVP’s identity, bringing a marketing approach shaped by years of building an audience online.
Bidarian describes their relationship as extending well beyond a conventional professional partnership.
“He is my business partner. He’s my friend. He’s my brother. He’s my son sometimes, and I’m his son sometimes. So we have a very fluid relationship,” he says.
That close relationship combines Bidarian’s commercial experience with Paul’s instinct for generating attention and making events part of the wider cultural conversation.
Bidarian recalls an encounter with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who praised Paul’s marketing abilities and offered advice about the importance of creating audience interest.
The underlying lesson was simple: attracting attention is valuable, even in an environment where criticism is inevitable.
For MVP, that philosophy translates into promoting fights that extend beyond the traditional boxing audience. Paul’s celebrity, online following and willingness to challenge established expectations can bring viewers who might otherwise have little interest in the sport.
The strategy has also attracted criticism from boxing purists, some of whom question the balance between sporting merit and entertainment. Nevertheless, MVP’s approach illustrates how promoters are adapting to a media landscape in which visibility and audience engagement can determine a fight’s commercial success.
Why Dubai Is a Strategic Priority
Dubai occupies a special place in Bidarian’s plans because of both his personal history and the city’s growing role in international sports and entertainment.
Having attended Emirates International School as a teenager, he retains a strong connection to the emirate. Bringing major boxing events there is therefore both a business decision and a return to a city that helped shape his early life.
MVP is preparing for a major event scheduled for December 24, with Jake Paul set to headline against Cedric Doumbè, according to the supplied report.
The proposed Christmas Eve date is particularly significant. Bidarian says he and Paul have wanted to stage an event on that evening for around two and a half years, viewing it as an opportunity to create a distinctive sporting occasion on a date traditionally associated with family celebrations.
The idea reflects the company’s broader strategy of identifying unconventional opportunities and building events around them.
Dubai’s international profile, tourism infrastructure and ambitions in global entertainment make it an attractive setting for such a proposition. The city also offers a platform for reaching audiences across the Middle East and beyond.
Bidarian sees that combination as an opportunity to challenge the assumption that the biggest boxing events must take place in established centres such as Los Angeles or Riyadh.
“Usually the biggest fights don’t come to Dubai; they go to LA, or they go to Riyadh,” he says. “We’re bringing what will be the most mainstream, the most attention-getting, the most revenue-generating event to Dubai.”
That statement captures the scale of his ambition, although the event’s eventual commercial performance will determine whether the prediction is borne out.
The PFL Partnership and MVP’s Regional Ambitions
MVP’s plans for Dubai extend beyond a single night of boxing. Its relationship with the Professional Fighters League (PFL) is expected to contribute to the company’s broader regional presence.
According to the supplied report, the PFL brand is scheduled to transition to MVP branding from January, potentially giving the company a larger platform from which to develop its international strategy.
The partnership could strengthen MVP’s ability to connect fighters, events and audiences across different combat sports markets. It also reflects the wider consolidation taking place in sports entertainment, where organisations increasingly seek to combine promotional expertise, established rosters and regional opportunities.
For Bidarian, the ambition is to build a business capable of delivering major events while creating long-term commercial relationships in markets with growing interest in combat sports.
Dubai offers a natural setting for that strategy, particularly if MVP can turn high-profile events into a recurring presence rather than isolated attractions.
A Business Philosophy That Fits Dubai
Bidarian often returns to the idea of challenging conventional expectations when explaining why Dubai fits MVP’s approach.
“Jake’s saying is, ‘You say impossible, I say let’s find out.’ And that’s Dubai,” he says.
The comparison reflects a shared emphasis on ambition, visibility and the willingness to pursue projects that established businesses might consider unconventional.
For MVP, the challenge is to translate that philosophy into a sustainable operation. Major fight nights can generate enormous attention, but long-term success also depends on fighter development, reliable partnerships, repeat audiences and the ability to deliver compelling sporting contests.
Bidarian’s background in investment and corporate strategy gives him a different perspective from promoters whose careers have developed exclusively within boxing. His experience at Mubadala and the UFC has exposed him to the financial and organisational demands of building a global sports business.
Combined with Paul’s public profile, that experience has helped MVP establish a distinctive position in an increasingly competitive industry.
The Road Ahead for MVP and Dubai
Bidarian’s plans reflect a broader transformation in professional boxing, where traditional promotional structures are being challenged by new business models built around celebrity, digital audiences and international partnerships.
MVP is attempting to bring those elements together while giving fighters, particularly women, a larger platform. Dubai represents an important test of that ambition, offering the company an opportunity to stage a major event in a market that Bidarian knows personally and believes is ready for a different kind of sporting spectacle.
The December 24 event could become a defining moment in MVP’s regional ambitions, provided the announced matchup and wider plans proceed as described. The company’s longer-term challenge will be to build on that attention and establish a lasting presence in the market.
For Bidarian, the mission is about more than bringing Jake Paul to another destination. It is about changing how boxing is packaged, promoted and experienced by a new generation of fans.
His journey from Wall Street to the UFC and now MVP has given him an unusual combination of financial expertise and combat sports experience. Whether that combination can reshape boxing remains to be seen, but Dubai is firmly part of the plan.
Ultimately, Bidarian’s vision is to prove that boxing’s biggest opportunities may lie outside its traditional boundaries. With MVP, he is betting that a fighter-first approach, modern marketing and ambitious international events can create a new model for the sport — and that Dubai can become one of its most important stages.
