UFC ring girls Brittney Palmer and Arianny Celeste find former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s controversial comments regarding the purpose of ring girls quite amusing, as they responded to a meme that Conor McGregor recently posted on his Twitter page mocking his old rival.
Nurmagomedov was in hot water recently after criticizing ring girls and saying that they are “the most useless people in mixed martial arts”. Palmer and Celeste, two of the most well-known ring girls who have been involved with the promotion for many years, felt disrespected by the comments and ripped Nurmagomedov in brief comments on their Instagram stories.
The UFC ring girls hit back
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— Jordan Ellis (@JordanEllisUK) September 1, 2021
During a recent Moscow, Russia press conference, Nurmagomedov went off on the purpose of ring girls and questioned their position in the fight game.
“Look, I don’t want to offend anyone: Ring girls are the most useless people in martial arts,” Nurmagomedov said. “History knows many mistakes. We read history to avoid mistakes of the past in the future. If we look in history, it says they are useless. That is my personal opinion.”
Palmer and Celeste have been two of the longest-serving ring girls in UFC history, with Celeste joining the promotion in 2006 and Palmer making her first ring walk in for the UFC in 2005. Nurmagomedov is widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA fighters in the history of the sport, retiring with a career record of 29-0.
Many people around the MMA community have come to the defense of ring girls such as Palmer and Celeste, such as former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. During a recent podcast interview, Bisping alluded to the concept of ring girls as a fun and entertaining aspect of the fight business.
It appears that ring girls don’t appear to be going away any time soon, much to the dismay of Nurmagomedov and others.
What are your thoughts on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s comments on ring girls in MMA?