Philippine basketball

Arianny Celeste to grace Octagon at UFC Fight Night Manila

Nissi Icasiano

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Arianny Celeste to grace Octagon at UFC Fight Night Manila
The part-Filipina former 'Ring Girl of the Year' will appear at the UFC's first promotion in Manila on May 16

MANILA, Philippines – Round girl crowd favorite Arianny Celeste will be part of the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s inaugural event in the Philippines on May 16 at the 20,000-seater SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, Metro Manila.

Celeste, whose real name is Penelope Lopez, confirmed her attendance in the promotion’s maiden trip to the archipelago on Twitter last week.

The 29-year-old vixen made her first Octagon outing in 2006 and has been tapped to be on the cover of numerous publications such as Maxim, FHM, Sports Illustrated, Fighter’s Only Magazine and Playboy due to her popularity as UFC’s ring valet.

Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images/AFP

Celeste, a two-time recipient of World MMA Award’s “Ring Girl of the Year” citation, is a quarter Filipina and paid a visit to the country in May 2012 when she was invited to make several guest appearances.

The UFC formally announced on January 29 that the world’s premier mixed martial arts organization is heading its way to the Philippines to stage its first fight card in Manila and unveiled its partnership with the SM Group of businessman Henry Sy, the owner of the aforementioned state-of-the-art venue that started to open its doors for both sports and entertainment in May 2012.

However, no matches have been slated for UFC’s Manila affair numbered as “Fight Night 65” that will be aired internationally on the company’s digital network Fight Pass.

(RELATED: Fantasy booking the UFC’s inaugural event in Manila)

It is expected that the card will likely feature homegrown talents like Mark Eddiva and Roldan Sangcha-an, who made their respective promotional debuts in 2014.

Meanwhile, Filipino-American fighter Mark Muñoz (13-5) remains an uncertainty as he is scheduled to compete versus Roan Carneiro at UFC 184 on February 28 (March 1 Manila time).

Rappler.com

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