Sophie Cunningham walked into UFC 329 in Las Vegas on Saturday, and about eight minutes later she was walking around the Octagon as a ring girl. That’s how quickly it happened. No rehearsal. No heads-up to anyone. Not even her own teammate.
Caitlin Clark found out about it the same way most people did: on her phone, while trying not to pay for another streaming subscription.
“It was so fun to see, obviously,” Clark said. “It’s cool that people love it, and it shows that people are really paying attention to the WNBA, the players we have, the personalities we have across this league.”
But when asked if she watched live? Clark laughed and admitted she tried to catch Cunningham on her phone as best she could. But she wasn’t sure she even has Paramount+ because she didn’t want to shell out for yet another subscription. (Relatable.)
The Fever guard said she had no idea Cunningham was going to be a UFC ring girl until it was already happening. That’s just Sophie being Sophie, apparently. Cunningham has always been a little extra. On the court she’s a bundle of energy, and off it she’s become one of the WNBA’s most popular players thanks to her free-spirited personality and willingness to do stuff like, well, walk around a UFC cage right before a fight.
Clark acknowledged that her teammate is full of surprises.
“Maybe we’ll see her do more of it. Who knows, maybe she’ll be a UFC fighter,” Clark said with a chuckle. “I don’t know. That’s up to Sophie.”
UFC president Dana White said the whole thing was unplanned. Cunningham showed up at T-Mobile Arena, saw the Octagon, and said she wanted to walk around it. White didn’t hesitate.
“Then you’re gonna walk around it,” White told her, according to a report from For The Win’s Jeff Smith.
So she did. And now Cunningham has a new side gig to go along with her basketball career — one that already keeps her busy enough. She had to refocus fast, because the Fever played the Las Vegas Aces on Sunday, less than 24 hours after her impromptu UFC debut.
Cunningham is 29 and has become a fan favorite not just for her game but for her outfits and extracurricular interests. She’s the kind of player who keeps you wondering what she’ll do next. UFC ring girl? Sure. Actual UFC fighter? Clark isn’t ruling it out. But for now, Cunningham is still a Fever guard who has to play basketball the next day, whether she’s walking around an Octagon the night before or not.
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