Former ring girl Arianny Celeste says old rivalry with Ronda Rousey didn't make her "sweat at all" despite UFC fighter's inherent aggressionÂ
Former UFC ring girl Arianny Celeste once found herself in a bizarre feud with MMA legend Ronda Rousey. However, it seems the beef didn't trouble the cage-side beauty.
Interestingly, their feud can be traced back more than a decade. In 2012, Rowdy took a sly jab at Celeste while discussing the ring card girl being ranked higher than her on Maxim's Hot 100 list.
The fighter claimed that it'd be ironic if she had placed higher than a ring card girl on a list ranking women based on their beauty:
"It'd have been really funny if I had beaten Arianny Celeste. Like it's your job to show your ti**ies [and] I do that better than you? [h/t talkSPORT]"
Fast forward a few more years, in 2015, the former women's bantamweight champion once again took a jibe at ring girls, speculating that many fighters were being paid less than them.
Speaking to MMA Junkie about their old rivalry, Celeste explained Rousey didn't like the fact that a ring girl was the female face of the UFC when she first entered the promotion:
"For me, it was understandable a little bit though. She is a fighter; I'm a ring girl. At the time I believe I was the female face of the UFC, and here comes this amazing athlete, but she is like, 'Who are you? You are the face of the UFC? No, no, no, I'm going to be.' So I get it... I think the way she handled herself was not cool. To each their own, I feel like she's a little bit more aggressive in nature so, to each their own she didn't make me sweat at all."
Catch Arianny Celeste's comments on Ronda Rousey below (17:30):
When Ronda Rousey clapped back at Arianny Celeste for 'bully' remark
After Ronda Rousey speculated about ring card girls being paid more than fighters, Arianny Celeste ripped into 'Rowdy' in an interview with MMA Junkie Radio, saying:
"It blows my mind that someone who doesn't even know me continuously picks on me. And that's all I see her as, a big bully."
Suffice it to say the MMA icon didn't take kindly to the 38-year-old's comments. During a media interaction in 2015, Rousey stood fast in her assessment of fighter pay, saying that the ring girls wouldn't have a job if it were not for the athletes.
She added:
"You think her walking around in circles around the two guys or two girls out there like fighting for their lives is worth more, and think she works harder than they do?... You know what would've been the best thing for her to say? 'Oh my god, you know these fighters, they work so hard, and I wouldn't have a job if it wasn't for them'... There you go, there is a PR lesson for her."
Catch Ronda Rousey's comments below (0:10):