Sophie Cunningham’s Las Vegas Adventure

Sophie Cunningham had quite the night in Las Vegas, going beyond her usual roles. The Indiana Fever guard unexpectedly stepped into the spotlight as an Octagon Girl during UFC 329 on Saturday night, just before gearing up for her game against the Las Vegas Aces.

She was already at T-Mobile Arena, enjoying the fights when the thought struck her: watching wasn’t enough. Before the co-main event featuring Paddy Pimblett and Benoit St. Denis, the 6-foot-1 WNBA player picked up a first-round card, removed her shoes, and strutted around the Octagon in a black tank top and shorts. Interestingly, she also executed that memorable pointing gesture that’s been popping up everywhere as a meme.

UFC CEO Dana White mentioned that the whole thing came together rather spontaneously, about eight minutes before Cunningham took to the Octagon. “She walked in and said, ‘Oh, I want to walk around there.’ I said, ‘Okay, walk around there,'” White explained to reporters afterward. And just like that, Sophie became a ring girl for the UFC.

However, her stint was brief. Pimblett quickly choked Saint-Denis unconscious in under a minute, wrapping up the bout in the first round. Despite the short-lived experience, Cunningham seemed to enjoy her new role, laughing, posing for cameras, and engaging with celebrity antics.

“I love Sophie Cunningham,” Ms. White remarked. “Yeah, she’s fun.” Clearly, it was a memorable night.

Cunningham has garnered attention in the WNBA, especially for her role as Caitlin Clark’s enforcer. Her finger-pointing encounter with DeWanna Bonner turned into one of the year’s standout memes, and she’ll soon have her own Adidas Crazy Energy shoes hitting the shelves on July 24th. Plus, she can now proudly add ‘UFC ring girl’ to her list of achievements.

Sophie Cunningham is certainly making waves.