Arianny Celeste

Arianny Celeste
Born	Arianny Celeste (1985-11-12) November 12, 1985[1] Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Occupation	Model, UFC Octagon Girl
Years active	2006–present
Height	1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Website	www.ariannyceleste.com

Penelope López Márquez (born November 11, 1985), also known as Arianny Celeste (/æriˈɑːni/), is an American ring girl and model. She is best known for being a ring girl for the UFC. She is also a co-host on TV show Overhaulin'.

Early life

Celeste was born on November 11, 1985 in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is of Mexican and Filipino descent. "Arianny" is a nickname she was given as a child. She attended Palo Verde High School and attended college at UNLV where she majored in fitness management and nutrition.^[2][3][4]

Career

Celeste made her UFC debut in 2006 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada. Celeste has modeled for magazines such as Maxim, FHM, Sports Illustrated, and Fighter's Only Magazine.^[5]

In 2008, at the first World MMA Awards, Celeste was voted "2008 Ring Girl of the Year" an award she would go on to dominate.^[6]

In 2009, she won her second consecutive title at the 2nd World MMA Awards as Celeste become the "2009 Ring Girl of the Year" beating the likes of Natasha Wicks and Logan Stanton.^[7]

In September 2009, high school senior Conner Cordova, a fan of mixed martial arts, asked Celeste to attend his prom with him in a series of three YouTube videos. Celeste agreed, provided that he found a date for her friend. However, Celeste was unable to appear due to her schedule, so the plan changed to attending another dance. That also proved impossible, so Cordova and Celeste sponsored their own event, which doubled as a fundraiser for victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.^[8][9]

In 2010, Celeste had further showed her dominance in the award category by becoming the World MMA Awards "2010 Ring Girl of the Year" making it her third consecutive title and this time she was to beat a stronger field than she had ever faced before with future ring girl legends, Rachelle Leah and Brittney Palmer.^[10]

On February 4, 2010, Sports Illustrated named her "Lady of The Day."^[11] She was voted "2006 Ring Girl of the Year" in 2010 by Fighter's Only Magazine, an award she won the previous year as well. Maxim voted her "The Hottest UFC Octagon Girl" in the May 2010 issue where she was featured as the cover model.^[12] Arianny also appears in Maxim's Hot 100 list for 2010; she placed #23 on the list.^[13]

The UFC premiered a new weekly, web-only show called UFC Ultimate Insider on July 29, 2010.^[14] Celeste serves as host for the show, with Joe Rogan interviewing various UFC fighters. It also features updates on upcoming matches, PPV's, as well as highlights from previous events. The first episode featured a new photo shoot with Celeste.

Celeste posed nude for the November 2010 issue of Playboy.^[15]

At the 4th World MMA Awards in 2011, Celeste was voted the "2011 Ring Girl of the Year" again beating her good friend and closest rival Brittney Palmer. This made it her 4th consecutive award and is a feat that has never been matched since.^[16]

In 2012, Celeste was nominated for the "2012 Ring Girl of the Year" award at the World MMA Awards as she looked to extend her record and become a five-time "Ring Girl of the Year" but disappointingly she narrowly lost out to Brittney Palmer who became the first person other than Celeste to win the award.^[17]

Celeste was nominated again in 2013 as she looked to win the "Ring Girl of the Year" crown back from Palmer however, Celeste further lost out to Palmer as she continued her control over the award and won it for a second consecutive time and looked as if she would eventually surpass Celeste's record of four titles because Celeste looked like she may never win the award again due to Palmer's newly found and ever increasing popularity.^[18]

Celeste was the co-host of TV series Overhaulin', appearing in seven episodes from 2014 to 2015.^[19]

In 2014, Celeste and Palmer were both nominated for the "2014 Ring Girl of the Year" at the World MMA Awards as well as new competition from the younger fan favourite Carly Baker. Palmer was the favourite as she had won for the past two years and hoped to make it a third, edging ever closer to Celeste's record of four. However, Celeste regained her title as the "Ring Girl of the Year" making it her fifth time to have won the award and breaking a new record.^[20]

Personal life

On May 26, 2012, Celeste was arrested in Las Vegas on a domestic violence charge with regards to an alleged fight between her and her then-boyfriend, Praveen Chandra.^[21][22] Celeste posted $3,000 bond and was released at 7:00 pm PT.^[23] She was expected to have a hearing in Nevada on July 2, 2012. Chandra accused Celeste of kicking him in the nose. However, Celeste indicated Chandra also choked her several times during the evening. Both were arrested in a Wynn Las Vegas hotel room.^[24]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Arianny Celeste.

• Official website
• Arianny Celeste at the Internet Movie Database
• Arianny Celeste UFC Bio
• Arianny Celeste at Playboy Online