Valentina Shevchenko fires back at Khabib Nurmagomedov for comment on ring girls

Valentina Shevchenko secured yet another memorable victory at UFC 266 when she dominated Lauren Murphy to retain the UFC Flyweight title. The reigning UFC Champion was quizzed about a string of topics after her win and one among them was that about the comment on ring girls that former UFC Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov had made.

A few weeks back, Khabib had noted that he feels ring girls are ‘useless’ in MMA. Reacting to the same, Shevchenko had the following to say.

“Beautiful women, it’s a decoration of any event. And I want people to know that. No one has any right to say they are useless because they are in the place they have to be. They were here at the beginning, and no matter what even you come to, you will see beautiful women. As a man, everyone enjoys beautiful women, right? They are decorations. This is my message, that beautiful women are a decoration of any event,” Shevchenko said (H/T BJPENN.com)

Khabib had attracted a lot of heat for his comments on ring girls with a long list of personalities coming out and disagreeing with the former champion.

“Look, I don’t want to offend anyone. Ring girls are the most useless people in martial arts. What is their function? You can show that it is the second round on the screen. Do they develop a sport? Or they help people to see that it is the second round now? What are they doing? Tell me, please. I realize that is a history. History knows many mistakes. We read a history to avoid mistakes of the past in the future. If we look in the history, it says they are useless. That is my personal opinion,” Khabib had said.

Octagon ring girl Britney Palmer noted the following on her twitter in reaction to the comments from Khabib.

“Sorry not sorry” she wrote on Twitter.

Former UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping pitched in on the topic and sided with the ring girls.

"Nobody goes for the ring girls, that's not how it works. They're a little bit extra for the show. And I like it because it's historic in boxing and now with MMA, of course. It's a little bit of fun.I'm a huge fan of Khabib. But come on, man! Let the girls have a job. They make a lot of money with sponsorships and endorsements,” said Bisping.

Another Octagon Ring girl, Luciana Andrade fired back at Khabib as well.

“People spend way too much time and energy arguing over others’ lives and choices. UFC is both sport and entertainment, and brand ambassadors (aka ring girls) serve not just to “inform rounds” but to represent the brand when and where needed. I’ve been proudly/happily working as an OG for almost 8 years now and can only thank UFC for all the doors that keep being open to me. I also LOVE to keep proving haters wrong - yes, it’s possible to be a model while also studying, working and investing in other areas. I had people calling me stupid (remember the “do nothing b*tches” era? Women supporting women didn’t always exist in this industry) while I was literally using this opportunity and income to pursue a Masters in Law, learn other languages, improve myself. Sometimes you just have to laugh. If one thing, all this exposure, free hate and lots of judgement made us all “grow” thicker skin - it’s 2021 and I refuse to let people *try to* control my life, personal decisions and/or tell me what I should do for a living. Also: no, we do NOT make more than fighters,” she said.

Arianny Celeste wrote a long message on her Instagram and said that she is proud of what she has achieved so far.

I’ve work over 15 years in this industry and learned it’s easier just to simply NOT CARE. 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. 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.

What do you think of the whole situation? Let us know in the comments below.

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