With her Sports Illustrated appearance and viral pointing meme, Indiana Fever star Sophie Cunningham has been everywhere lately.
She was seen Saturday night again, at the UFC 329 event.
The WNBA World Reacts as Sophie Cunningham Attends Conor McGregor’s UCF Return
Cunningham was the ring girl for the bout between Paddy Pimblett and Benoit Saint-Denis, where the Englishman walked away with a win by submission. Pimblett only took 52 seconds to prove his worth on the night.
Max Holloway and Sophie Cunningham link up to hit their signature points 👊🏀#UFC329 | LIVE on TNT Sports Box Office pic.twitter.com/r4Ysw50jhF
— UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) July 12, 2026
Cunningham also posed for a picture with Max Holloway, where the pair hit their famous celebrations. Holloway was also declared the winner after Conor McGregor walked away with an injury.
McGregor immediately injured his knee going for a kick and was defeated by Holloway just over a minute into the fight.
Being that McGregor is one of the sport’s all-time most popular fighters, and it was his first fight in over five years, it was a star-studded event. Cunningham was in attendance, even serving as a ring girl at one point.
Between the nonstop talk around Fever star Caitlin Clark and some early up-and-down play in Indiana, Cunningham was probably just happy to be away from the basketball world for a night.
The WNBA world had plenty to say about Cunningham’s appearance. Some came after McGregor, joking that Cunningham was in the ring longer than the former champ.
“Sophie Cunningham lasted longer in the ring than McGregor man,” HoosierSpeaker posted on X.
Sophie Cunningham lasted longer in the ring than McGregor man
— Speaker (@HoosierSpeaker) July 12, 2026
Veteran football writer Scott Kacsmar had the same thought. “She lasted in the ring longer than McGregor,” Kacsmar said.
She lasted in the ring longer than McGregor https://t.co/fb7P3p0XhF
— Scott Kacsmar (@ScottKacsmar) July 12, 2026
Barstool Sports had a video of Cunningham’s appearance as a ring girl. It was as if everyone was equally surprised to see Cunningham complete a random side quest.
Sophie Cunningham… RING GIRL?! pic.twitter.com/Mrm8GTLJWW
— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) July 12, 202
UCF President and CEO Dana White was asked when he hired Cunningham as a ring girl.
“About eight minutes before she did it,” White said, via Rosalina Lee. “I love Sophie Cunningham. We’ve created a relationship and she was here tonight. When she walked in, she goes I wanna walk around and I said then you’re going to walk around it. She’s fun.”
Dana White says he hired Sophie Cunningham as the ring girl “about 8 mins before she did it” pic.twitter.com/CF4aRQ49LC
— Rosalina Lee (@YoitsRosie) July 12, 2026
Some fans believe this official cements Cunningham as a mainstream celebrity.
“Yea man, Sophie Cunningham has officially arrived into the mainstream,” Ben Daniel of the Ben Daniel Podcast said.
It’s hard to argue with that right now. It isn’t just happening off the court for Cunningham. She is averaging 9.1 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in 22.7 minutes per game with impressive shooting numbers. She’s shooting 47.2% from the field and 40.0% from three.
The Fever will return to action Sunday night when they take on the Las Vegas Ace. The game tips at 9:00 p.m. ET and can be seen on NBC and Peacock.
