UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste has been a part of the company since 2006. Over the years, she has been a part of many great moments. However, there was one that left her rather scared.
During her appearance on the UNLEASHED podcast earlier this year, Celeste spoke about the post-fight brawl between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. The two took their rivalry to the octagon in 2018, while the bout was ultimately won by 'The Eagle' via fourth-round submission, what unfolded next has gone down in the history books but for not the right reasons.
A huge brawl broke out after Nurmagomedov decided to jump over the cage and attack McGregor's team. Speaking about the same, Celeste recalled how the ring girls rushed towards the dressing room. She said:
“It was crazy, I just looked at the girls and I was like go, we need to go now. Brooklyn stayed packed she’s like what’s going on um but yeah, we just started running for the um the dressing room there’s also like security right behind us that was like pushing us to go, so we were fine.”
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Catch her comments in the video below (41:58)
UFC 229: When Arianny Celeste clapped back at comments made by Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov has been quite vocal about the role of the ring girls in the sport. 'The Eagle' once claimed that they are "the most unnecessary people in MMA". While his opinions were met with a lot of criticism, Arianny Celeste also jumped on the bandwagon.
Celeste reacted strongly in an Instagram post where she highlighted her hard work in the industry for more than fifteen years. She also emphasized her status as a strong, self-sufficient woman, a real estate investor, and a fearless risk-taker. She said:
"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."
She added:
"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."