Arianny Celeste (born Penelope López Márquez on November 12, 1985) 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' and a model featured in Playboy magazine.

Early life

Celeste was born on November 12, 1985, in Las Vegas, Nevada. She is of Mexican and Filipino descent. "Arianny" is a nickname she was given as a child. She attended Eldorado High School and attended college at UNLV where she majored in fitness management and nutrition.

Career

As ring girl

Celeste made her UFC debut in 2006 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Paradise, Nevada.

She was voted "2006 Ring Girl of the Year" by Fighter's Only Magazine.
Celeste during the UFC Affliction autograph signing at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar Marine Corps in 2008

In 2008, at the first World MMA Awards, Celeste was voted "2008 Ring Girl of the Year".

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.

In 2010, Celeste became the World MMA Awards "2010 Ring Girl of the Year", making it her third consecutive title. This time she faced competition from Rachelle Leah and Brittney Palmer.

At the 4th World MMA Awards in 2011, Celeste was voted the "2011 Ring Girl of the Year" again beating Brittney Palmer. This made it her 4th consecutive award.

In 2012, Celeste was nominated for the "2012 Ring Girl of the Year" award at the World MMA Awards. Celeste narrowly lost out to Brittney Palmer who became the first person other than Celeste to win the award.

Celeste was nominated again in 2013 as she looked to win the "Ring Girl of the Year" crown back from Palmer. Celeste further lost out to Palmer. This was Celeste's second consecutive loss.

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. 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.

In 2015, former UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey argued "Either the ring card girls are paid too much, or the fighters aren't paid enough." UFC ring girls are reputedly paid $18,000 a year. This excludes jobs outside the UFC, like modeling. Arianny Celeste protested, calling Rousey a "big bully". Celeste argued that being a ring girl is harder than it seems.

As model

Celeste has modeled for magazines such as Maxim, FHM, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, and Fighter's Only Magazine.

On February 4, 2010, Sports Illustrated named her "Lady of The Day."

Maxim voted her "The Hottest UFC Octagon Girl" in the May 2010 issue where she was featured as the cover model. Arianny also appears in Maxim's Hot 100 list for 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014; she placed #23, #69, #58, #18 and #59 respectively on the list.

Celeste posed nude for the November 2010 issue of Playboy, which was one of top-selling issues that year.

As host

The UFC premiered a new weekly, web-only show called UFC Ultimate Insider on July 29, 2010. 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 was the co-host of TV series Overhaulin'. She appeared in seven episodes from 2014 to 2015.

Others

The Hooters invited Celeste to be a judge at the 2011 Hooters International Swimsuit Pageant. Celeste is featured as an Octagon girl in video games UFC Undisputed 2010, UFC Undisputed 3, EA Sports UFC and EA Sports UFC 2.

Charity

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.

In 2013, Celeste, along with female mixed martial artists from various promotions, auctioned their sports bras on eBay to raise money for breast cancer research.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, she organized a GoFundMe fundraiser to provide medical Protective equipment for the Centennial Hospital in Las Vegas and other related hospitals.