Khabib called ring girls the ‘the most useless people in martial arts’
Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov recently labeled ring girls as “the most useless people in martial arts.” He also questioned their purpose as “you can show that it is the second round on the screen.”
Arianny Celeste, the UFC’s most popular and tenured Octagon Girl, has since responded to say that she simply doesn’t care about criticism from others anymore.
“I’ve work over 15 years in this industry and learned it’s easier just to simply NOT CARE,” Celeste wrote.
“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.”
Apart from explaining her other duties for the promotion, Celeste also explained how she should be respected for working hard to be an “independently wealthy female”:
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.
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 .
You don’t have to like me, but you will respect me.
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 !!
Next subject.
This of course hasn’t been the first time Octagon girls have been criticized, with Ronda Rousey repeatedly taking aim at Celeste and their jobs as “talentless” ring card girls during her title reign.
More recently, Jake Paul also stated that fighters should get paid more than Arianny Celeste, although that was more of a point about the state of UFC pay than ring girls themselves.