UFC Octagon girl Arianny Celeste isn’t one to sit quietly, even when getting called out by the baddest woman walking the planet.
During Wednesday’s UFC 184 media event, per MMA Fighting, Ronda Rousey, the reigning women’s bantamweight champ, voiced her opinion on the hot topic of fighter compensation. Rousey’s problem isn’t with her own bank account. Being a UFC champ and the face of women’s MMA comes with a lofty monetary perch that she deeply appreciates.
Rousey’s problem lies with the payment of other fighters, who she claims earn less than ring girls:
I think that they should get paid more than the ring girls. And I don’t know if the ring girls get paid too much or the fighters don’t get paid enough. But yeah. There’s definitely a lot more in what the fighters do than what they do. So, I think that’s one thing that’s unfair.
On the surface, the process of enduring a grueling two-month training camp and getting punched and elbowed in the face does seem a bit more taxing than walking circles around the cage while holding up a large card.
But according to Celeste, the process isn’t that simple. She fired back at Rousey’s comments on Thursday in several Twitter posts.
Rousey and Celeste have had their fair share of dust-ups in the past.
During an interview for Maxim in 2012, Rousey had an issue with Celeste being ranked higher than her when discussing Maxim’s “Hot 100” list, which ranks celebrity women by attractiveness.
“It would have been really funny if I’d beaten Arianny Celeste… Like, ‘Ha-ha, it’s your job to show your t—–s. I do that better than you,’” said Rousey.
A little over a year ago, Celeste made an appearance on MMAjunkie Radio, openly criticizing Rousey for being a poor role model for young women. She even seemed a bit disappointed the two couldn’t form some kind of friendship.
Rousey, the longtime pound-for-pound queen of women’s MMA, is paving the way for tons of young athletes hoping to one day follow in her footsteps. Meanwhile, Celeste believes she’s done similar things by turning her role as a UFC Octagon girl into a serious occupation.
Perhaps some common ground will eventually come of this storied beef, but then again, some of us just weren’t meant to get along.
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon and FanRag Sports.
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