While Conor McGregor’s shocking loss due to a knee injury at UFC 329 dominated discussions, WNBA star Sophie Cunningham stole the spotlight just before the main event disaster. The Indiana Fever guard made a surprise appearance as the promotion’s guest ring girl, circling the Octagon with the round card during the Paddy Pimblett vs. Benoit Saint Denis co-main event clash. Now, she has finally revealed how Dana White handed her the role. 

“Literally like five minutes before,” Cunningham told Uncrowned. “So, me and Dana have kind of become friends, and he’s an amazing dude, and UFC is awesome. And so, went to my first live fight last night, which was so cool. The main fight was a little, ugh! But the whole experience overall was wonderful, and Dana came over to say what’s up and I was like, ‘Hey, if you need a ring girl, let me know.”

“And he’s like, alright, like first round for the Paddy fight, like that’s you? And I was like, yeah. He’s like, ‘No, seriously’. And I was like, ‘Oh God’. It was so much fun, though. Like, it was just a great environment.”

Going by her reaction, there’s no doubt the 29-year-old Indiana Fever star had the time of her life at one of the UFC’s biggest events of the year. Cunningham revealed she felt surprisingly confident heading into the assignment, thanks in large part to the experienced Octagon girls, who helped her every step of the way.

“At the end of the day, you hold the card up, and you turn left,” Cunningham added. “So, hopefully I could do that. But the girls, actually, the ring girls, the real ones, they were helping me, and it was fun. Like, it really is like you have to have a little personality, a little sass to it, but it was a good time.”    

As Sophie Cunningham shared that she landed the ring girl role just minutes before the event, Dana White had already revealed how it all came together during the UFC 329 post-fight press conference. 

“I love Sophie Cunningham; we’ve created a relationship. And she was here tonight, and when she walked in, she goes, ‘Oh, I want to walk around that,’ so I said, ‘Then you’re gonna walk around it.'”    

The Indiana Fever star’s cameo also wasn’t limited to her appearance as a UFC ring girl. Following the disappointing ending to the main event, she took part in a fun photo op with Max Holloway inside the cage. The former featherweight champion recreated Cunningham’s viral finger-pointing meme, which originated from Cunningham pointing her finger at DeWanna Bonner for 22 seconds straight during the Fever vs. Phoenix Mercury game on June 22.

Meanwhile, the WNBA star returned the favor by doing Holloway’s iconic point-down celebration, creating a memorable crossover moment. However, this wasn’t the first time the UFC brought in a guest ring girl. 

At the promotion’s landmark UFC 100 event, former The Girls Next Door star Holly Madison also carried the round card. Interestingly, Madison was in attendance at UFC 329 as per her Instagram post, continuing her longtime association with the promotion.  

Sophie Cunningham also spoke about how being part of the WNBA has opened the door to experience opportunities.

Sophie Cunningham is grateful for the WNBA’s support

For Sophie Cunningham, nothing beats the excitement of attending other sporting events and getting the chance to play a role in them, just as she did with the UFC. Because of that, she credited the WNBA for giving her, along with many other players, opportunities to experience different sports despite the league’s own busy schedules.

“And so I think that’s part of where the WNBA is at is that people want us to be involved and are giving us those opportunities. And so anytime we can go and support another sport. And, you know, our schedule is brutal.” the Indiana Fever guard added in the Uncrowned interview.

“We really don’t get to do a lot of stuff. And you guys know that because you guys are in our travel party as well. And so when we do have a couple days to, you know, team bond or go do stuff that is fun and extracurricular, of course we’re going to say yeah to that.”

A WNBA player typically plays around 38 to 42 regular-season games, which can make for a demanding schedule. In that sense, getting the chance to attend other sporting events can broaden their horizons and provide some much-needed excitement away from the court.

Well, Cunningham herself attended a NASCAR event last November and took a photo with Sydney Sweeney, showing that she’s always eager to experience different sports whenever the opportunity arises.

That said, with Dana White and Sophie Cunningham seemingly developing a friendly relationship, it wouldn’t be a surprise if this wasn’t the last time fans will see the Indiana Fever star. With several marquee UFC events still on the calendar, the Indiana Fever star might make another crowd-pleasing appearance in the near future.