IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
WNBA star Sophie Cunningham had the time of her life becoming a UFC ring card girl.
On Saturday, UFC 329 took place in Las Vegas and featured the ill-fated comeback of Conor McGregor.
During the event, Cunningham was seen serving as a ring card girl for one round.
Sophie Cunningham is the special guest octagon girl for the #UFC329 co-main event pic.twitter.com/RmKvnoI8Vy
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) July 12, 2026
According to UFC CEO Dana White, Cunningham’s walk was spontaneous.
“I love Sophie Cunningham, and we’ve created a relationship,” White said at the UFC 329 post-fight press conference.
“She was here (Saturday night), and when she walked in, she goes, ‘Oh, I wanna walk around that.’ I said, ‘Then you’re gonna walk around it. About eight minutes before she did it.”
On Sunday, Cunningham spoke to the media and opened up about her experience as a UFC ring card girl.
“Me and Dana have kind of become friends. He’s an amazing dude. The UFC’s awesome. So I went to my first live fight, which was so cool. The main fight was a little oof, but the whole experience overall was wonderful. He did come over to say, ‘What’s up?’ and I was like, Hey, if you need a ring girl, let me know.’ He was like, ‘Alright, first round for the Paddy fight.’ She was like, ‘Yeah.’ He was like, ‘No, seriously,’ and I was like, ‘Oh, god.’”
“It was so much fun, though. Like it was just a great environment. At the end of the day, you pull the card up, and you turn left. Hopefully, I could do that. But the girls, the real ones, they were helping me, and it was fun. You have to have a little personality and a little sass, but it was a good time. There’s more people who went to the fight than just me. So I think that’s part of where the WNBA is at. People want us to be involved and are giving us those opportunities to be involved,”
Sophie Cunningham is having a SUMMER🔥
Dana White made her a ring girl for UFC 329 and she stole the show walking the Octagon for Round 1 of the Paddy Pimblett fight.
She even hit the crowd with that viral point meme from a few weeks ago.
WNBA players are absolutely fuming 🤣 pic.twitter.com/y7Vz2YXpo0
— Alec Lace (@AlecLace) July 13, 2026