Ben Askren shares controversial take on Arianny Celeste's absence from recent UFC events

Former Bellator and ONE champion Ben Askren is thoroughly opinionated and can attract polarizing reactions with his comments. Askren recently shared a controversial theory on the absence of Arianny Celeste, who happens to be one of the most popular ring girls in MMA history, from the promotion's recent events.

The longtime Octagon girl, Celeste, wasn't seen in any of the UFC's three recent events in Jacksonville, Florida and neither was she seen in the most recently held UFC on ESPN 9 at Las Vegas, Nevada. Celeste's friend and fellow Octagon girl Brittany Palmer filled in for her in those events.

Ben Askren takes a dig at Arianny Celeste's age, citing it as the reason for her absence

During the ‘UFC Fight Night: Teixeira vs Smith’ event, a fan took to Twitter to ask Ben Askren why Arianny Celeste was not present during the fight card. Askren has now replied to his fan with a very controversial and seemingly demeaning statement on Twitter.

“Corona dangerous if you are old.” - said Askren on Twitter.

Askren's comment appears demeaning because of the fact that Celeste is only 34-years-old and the likelihood of her not appearing on the recent events held by the promotion due to her age and the fears of contracting the coronavirus disease is very slim. Apart from her job as a UFC ring girl, Celeste has a number of other side jobs she's involved in, including modelling, acting and even music in the recent years.

As for Askren's comments about her, Arianny is yet to respond and it seems highly unlikely that she will choose to engage in a verbal exchange with the former UFC fighter regarding this issue. There has been no official statement on behalf of the UFC regarding the reason for Celeste's absence and neither has the Octagon giherself said anything so it remains unclear whether she will feature in Saturday's UFC 250 pay-per-view at the UFC Apex facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.