It seems that Khabib Nurmagomedov is no fan of what he considers a “useless” tradition in mixed martial arts.
Ring card girls, and sometimes boys, are a decades-long tradition in fight sports. They come in different shapes, sizes, colors, creeds, and uniforms, but no matter what type they are, former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0) believes they are a pointless part of the entertainment side of combat sports.
Meaning, don’t expect the new owner of the Russian MMA promotion Gorilla Fighting Championship — which will be rebranded as Eagle Fighting Championship — to continue the practice in his new fighting organization.
Khabib Nurmagomedov calls ring card girls useless history
“Look, 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 that it is the second round on the screen?” Nurmagomedov said at a press conference for his acquisition of GFC.
“I realize that is a history [in ring card girls]. History knows many mistakes. We read 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. Dana White maybe likes it. Maybe you do, too. But my name is not Dana. My name is Khabib.”
It must be noted, that the unbeaten and now retired former champion is a devoted Muslim and his personal lean towards more conservative values makes his distaste for this particular combat sports skin show unsurprising. Although a distaste for current fighter pay issues would probably be a more worthwhile topic for a public display of disdain.
The Dagestani sports icon last fought in October of 2020. On that night he successfully defended his title for the last time with a second-round submission victory over interim champion Justin Gaethje.
What do you think? Is “The Eagle” right about ring card girls, or just not appreciating the various elements of the violent circus that is an MMA event?
Join the discussion on this topic…