Recently Khabib Nurmagomedov stirred up the MMA world by saying that he felt like ring girls are pointless. This has sparked the ire of Michael Bisping, who has responded to the comments from the Dagestani.
Khabib’s comments were fairly simple, when he was asked if he was ever going to include ring girls in his Eagle FC promoted events. He explained that he thought ring girls were pointless, as rounds can be displayed on screen and that is not why people look at the ladies anyway, and that he would never include them in his own promotion.
These comments got back to Bisping, who responded to them on a recent episode of his podcast. Here the former middleweight champion made it clear that he is aware that ring girls are not why people come to fights, but they are a nice cherry on top.
“Fair play, but I’ve got two things to say on that. Nobody goes for the ring girls. Nobody. Nobody goes for the ring girls, like ‘Oh, hold on a minute. It’s Conor McGregor vs Dustin Poirier 4… well who’s the ring girls? What are we talking? Is it Arianny, is it Brittany? Ooh Brittany, I’m f—king going to that one,’ that’s not how it works,” Bisping quipped.
“When he says the most useless people in martial arts, correct. They are. But they’re not getting in the cage and fighting. They’re a little extra for the show. And I like it because it’s historic in boxing, and now in MMA of course, you have a ring card and it adds to the crowd, and it adds to the pomp and circumstance of it all, and it adds a little bit of fun.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov: Ring girls are the most useless people in martial arts.
😂🤣🔥 pic.twitter.com/OOSEHsWuKI
— Samirah (@SameeraKhan) August 24, 2021
Michael Bisping Wants The Ladies To Work
Michael Bisping then heard from his co-host Luis J. Gomez, who makes the point that it is a bit of eye candy for those in attendance. He also brought up that if it was a matter of sexism, then frustration would be understandable.
However Mike countered with the idea that it is not about whether or not the ladies are eye candy. He explains that he understands Khabib’s point of view and principles, but says that these ladies should be allowed to have their jobs.
“Listen, Khabib, god bless him. He’s a man of honor and he doesn’t play that game. That’s not how he rolls, so to speak. I get it, and I’m a huge fan of Khabib, so I’m not talking s—t, but c’mon man, let the girls have a job!” Bisping proclaimed.
“They make a lot of money, with sponsorships and endorsements and everything. They’re famous in their own right.”
https://youtu.be/NKkixAX6MRQ
It certainly seems clear that, as Michael Bisping is alluding to, Khabib Nurmagomedov is making this point from a stance of his own personal beliefs. So long as he is not being disparaging, he is more than allowed to decide what happens within his own promotion.
