Picture Credit: Twitter
UFC legend and one of the greats in the MMA world Khabib Nurmagomedov had made a controversial comment on the role of ring girls which did not go well with the people involved. Even social media users did not like Khabib’s comment and reckoned that it was an insult to an entire profession. Khabib’s opponent Conor McGregor also took a dig at the Russian. McGregor shared a meme on Twitter that showed The Simpsons' character Smithers covering his eyes while two female models were dancing in front of him. The Irishman tagged Khabib as Smither and the two models as Brittney Palmer and Arianny Celeste.
Brittney Palmer was quick to react to this post and shared the meme on her Twitter handle with a caption, "Hahahah sorry not sorry!" Brittney is one of the top ring girls who enjoys a huge fanbase on social media with 1.2m followers on Instagram alone. The other ring girl tagged in the picture, Arianny Celeste, also did not shy away from mocking Khabib as she shared the meme with a caption on Instagram: “Sorry we make you uncomfortable.”
What had Khabib said?
Khabib, who is the owner of Russian-based MMA promotion Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC), said that his company would not be using traditional ring girls. The reason he gave for the same is, “I don’t want to offend anyone, ring girls are the most useless people in martial arts. What is their function? I have a question, you can show it is the second round that is on the screen.”
Khabib further added that it makes him uncomfortable with his father watching him play. Khabib also said that it was his personal opinion and he neither wants to impose it on anyone nor wants the tradition to be imposed on him. "I feel uncomfortable with my father. I am not against it. If you want you can do it, but don't impose it on me, do it aside. There are designated places for it," he said.
The statement, however, did not fascinate anyone and people even mocked Khabib on social media.