Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov ruffled some feathers with his comments about ring girls being useless in MMA. He has promoted a response from one of the most famous Octagon Girls of all time, Arianny Celeste.
To be fair, Khabib’s comments were nothing personal against Celeste, or any of the other ring girls out there. He was more saying that, when it comes to his promotion, he will not be using them because there are less inappropriate ways to show when a new round was starting.
“Look, I don’t want to offend anyone, ring girls are the most useless people in martial arts. What is their purpose? I have a question. You can show that it is the second round on the screen,” Khabib said.
“I realize that is a history. History knows many mistakes. We read history to avoid mistakes of the past in the future. If we look in the history, it says they are useless. That is my personal opinion.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov: Ring girls are the most useless people in martial arts.
😂🤣🔥 pic.twitter.com/OOSEHsWuKI
— Samirah (@SameeraKhan) August 24, 2021
Arianny Celeste Fires Back
As one of the most famous Octagon Girls the UFC has ever known, and an employee of the promotion for over a decade, it is safe to say that Arianny Celeste was not a fan of these comments from Khabib Nurmagomedov. In fact, she made that known with a post to her Instagram.
Here she made her case for why ring girls are not useless, by stating the success that she has had in life, both inside and outside the UFC. Moreover, she made it clear that Khabib’s opinions of her profession did not matter.
“I’ve work over 15 years in this industry and learned it’s easier just to simply NOT CARE .
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For 15 years we have been more than just ring girls – we have dedicated time in promoting ufc and showing love and time to our die hard fans through touring the world and personal appearances . And while the world is very different right now , I can still feel that energy and love every time we have a show with an audience,” Celeste wrote.“It’s taken me 15 years of hard work, dedication, and time to be :
•A bad ass independently wealthy female.
•A real estate investor and owner of not just 1 but 3 homes/properties one located in LA -which is expensive AF .
•and a female who is not afraid to take risks and build for my future.
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You can call us useless, but to people like me who have worked this hard, it slips right off my shoulders . My life is too good to be unhappy .
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You don’t have to like me, but you will respect me.
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Last but not least, please tell me why reporters and have nothing better to talk about than the ring girls ? There has to be way better things to ask about !!
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Next subject. 🎤”
What do you make of these comments from Arianny Celeste? Do you side with her or Khabib Nurmagomedov regarding ring girls and their uses?