(They were so young, so…innocent. OK, maybe just young.) 

If you are in need a pick-me-up, then boy do we have some good news for you. Chances are, if you ordered tickets to UFC 149, you are a sad panda bordering on manic depressive at the moment. Every single main card fight has been changed from its original pairing, leaving us with a headlining battle for a belt that has no value outside of Narnia, where its gold could possibly be smelted into a dagger of some sort and used to smite an enemy with extreme righteousness.

But praise the Gods, an angel from on High has been sent to repair this weak, starving card as best as she can with only the power of her presence, like a stacked Mother Teresa if you will. That woman is former UFC ring girl Rachelle Leah, who will be making her triumphant return to the octagon at UFC 149. We last saw Ms. Leah at UFC 111, where she turned in perhaps the single greatest night of card carrying the sport has ever seen. Check out a few of our favorite photos of Rachelle after the jump, and be sure to follow her on Twitter.

(Full gallery is after the jump.)

Zoe Emma James is a 20-year-old model from Derby, England, who was recently hired as a ring girl for British MMA promotion BAMMA. Man, do those guys know how to scout talent or what? Get to know her better on Facebook and Twitter — where she describes herself as a “Yorkshire Pudding Fanatic and general all around Bad Ass” — and check out more of our favorite Zoe James photos in the gallery after the jump. As usual, props to BabesofMMA for the tip!

(Full gallery is after the jump.)

Ashley Nicole Arthur is a 25-year-old model and ring girl from San Antonio, Texas, who has held round-cards for King of Kombat and Bellator. Her list of non-MMA credits include multiple appearances for Playboy (just Google it), as well as promotional work for our beloved Fleshlight. Ashley currently works as a commercial real estate agent while studying business at University of the Incarnate Word. Check out 12 of our favorite Ashley Nicole Arthur photos below…

(Full gallery is after the jump.)

How have we never featured ex-BAMMA ring girl Amii Grove on CagePotato? That injustice ends today. The 25-year-old English glamour model has taken her clothes off for such distinguished publications as Page3 and Zoo [links NSFW], and appeared in the movie Your Highness this year. Follow her life on Twitter, visit her official site, and check out some more choice Amii Grove photos in the gallery below…

(Photo courtesy of Pussout Gear. Gallery is after the jump.)

Props to Babes of MMA for introducing us to Dominique Sorenson, a Minneapolis-based MMA model who has held round cards for various regional promotions including Brutaal, MAX Fights, and Savage Entertainment. Dominique is a Urijah Faber fan who disapproves of creepers. She is the reigning “2011 Miss Liquid Ice,” and plans to start her own business in the Midwest for ring girls and promo models.

We’ve collected some of our favorite photos of Dominique in the gallery after the jump. Check out Dominique’s Facebook fan page for lots more, and follow her life on Twitter!

By Anton Gurevich

Ashley Salazar’s resume is longer than Travis Fulton’s fight record. Before winning the Knock Out Ring Girl contest for Strikeforce: Feijao vs. Henderson, Ashley served six years in the Air Force as a mammographer. [Ed. note: *spits drink out*] She also has an amateur Mixed Martial Arts record of 1-1, with her last fight taking place in August of 2010. Aaaannd…Ashley is also a mother.

Today, Ashley’s number-one goal is to win Playboy’s “Miss Social” contest, which will reach its final stage this Monday, June 27th. You can help Ashley win by submitting votes on the contest’s Facebook page.

We had a rare opportunity to have an interview with Ashley Salazar, asking her all sorts of ridiculous questions. Please make sure you follow Ashley on Twitter @ashleycmsalazar, and “Like” her Facebook Fan Page.

Check out Lowkick’s Q+A with Ashley Salazar — and more pics, of course —right here!

(The full gallery is after the jump.)

We’ve been burned by these “guest Octagon Girl” reports in the past, but this one seems to be coming from a higher authority:

UFC 131 in Vancouver will have a guest Octagon Girl by the name of Leah Dizon according to Arianny Celeste on Facebook yesterday. Leah, a singer and model was born and raised in Las Vegas but now resides in Tokyo, Japan. [via babesofmma]

Well, at least she did live in Tokyo until she divorced her husband and moved to New York. And hey, fun fact? She also went to the same high school as Arianny. For more of what you might be seeing this Saturday, check out our handy photo gallery below…

(Photo courtesy of heDD. Full gallery is after the jump.)

Props to Babes of MMA for turning us on to Brandy Brewer, a model from Cornwall, England, who has held round cards for U.K. promotions like BAMMA and 10th Legion Championship Fighting. Her list of magazine credits include a spot in Loaded‘s highly-coveted “Britain’s Best Bums” feature in 2008. Enjoy the pics, and follow Brandy’s life at twitter.com/brandy_brewer.

Update: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that a few of those images are NSFW, so proceed with caution.

(Props: Maxim. Click all images for larger versions.)

The June 2011 issue of Maxim is out now, featuring Strikeforce ring girl Kelli Hutcherson making her debut in the annual Hot 100 feature. Kelli scored some solid real-estate in the issue, and we’ve got the scans to prove it. More highlights from her new pictorial are after the jump; in case you missed it, video from the shoot can be seen here.

(Uh…yes please. Click all images for larger versions. Make sure to look over both shoulders first before checking out that last one.)

By Anton Gurevich

On May 21st, Wembley Arena in London, England will host the sixth BAMMA event, headlined by a middleweight showdown between Murilo “Ninja” Rua and local hero Tom “Kong” Watson. But before the fighters lock horns inside the cage, let’s take a look at what British Association of Mixed Martial Arts has to offer in terms of ringside entertainment.

Please meet the twenty-one year old Georgia Graham. She’s from Berwick-upon-Tweed, the northernmost town in England, on the east coast at the mouth of the River Tweed (thanks, Wikipedia). Georgia reached the finals of Miss Universe Great Britain back in 2009, and has been doing various promo work since then. She loves Oreo Cookies, Ice-Cream and of course Mixed Martial Arts.

In an exclusive interview for LowKick.com Community, Georgia Graham spoke about her job as BAMMA Ring Girl, Mixed Martial Arts and the most important things she looks for in a guy.

Feel free to add Georgia on Facebook or follow her on Twitter. You may also check out her website at Georgia-Graham.com.

Continue to Lowkick.com for the interview with Georgia and lots more pics!

(“No matter what happens, I hope we can still pretend to be friends.”)

Let’s not drag this thing out any longer than we already have. After four rounds of voting, over 50,000 votes cast, and one fairly-awkward video featuring the two finalists, you’ve made it very clear who your hearts belong to.

And so, the winner of 2011′s Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix, taking a full 77.4% of the popular vote in the finals, is…

(Click all photos for full-size versions.)

According to Terra Sports (via MMAMania), Brazilian model Maria Melilo has reportedly been hired as a guest Octagon Girl for UFC 134, August 27th in Rio De Janeiro — beating out other local ring girl hopefuls like Carol Dias and Juliana Salimeni. (Update: According to MMAFighting, none of them will be used. Well that sucks.) But don’t worry, she’s qualified. Maria (also known as “Meg”) has held round-cards for Brazilian MMA promotions including Jungle Fight, has appeared in Brazilian Playboy, and won the 11th season of Big Brother Brasil. Check out lots more photos of her after jump, and share your thoughts in the comments section…

(Wow! They just seem so thrilled by the honor!)

This is it, folks — the final round in the greatest MMA tournament since PRIDE’s 2000 Open-Weight Grand Prix. After nearly a month of voting, you’ve whittled our 16-woman field down to two finalists. UFC Octagon Girls Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer are the lone survivors, and will be competing for your votes starting right now.

Check out more photos of the two ferocious competitors after the jump, and cast your final vote in the poll at the end of this post. (As usual, if you don’t see it, refresh the page or try a different browser.) We’ll announce the results on Friday. Man, this is really happening. Finish strong, people…

(Hint: As many as two and as few as none of these women have made it into the finals.)

After five days of voting, the Final Four in our “2011 Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” have been reduced to the Terrific Two. Since I’ll be in Toronto tomorrow and Friday, let’s plan on kicking off the finals voting on Monday. Just one more week, and this whole dirty business will be put to bed. But first, see who you’ll be voting for after the jump…

For round-of-16 results, click here.

For quarterfinal results, click here.

(To see the original round-of-16 bracket, click here.)

After your 40,000+ votes eliminated all the blondes, foreigners, and blonde foreigners, we’re left with four semi-finalists in our quest to crown this year’s Hottest Woman in MMA — all of them belonging to that sub-species of hot chick known as the American Brunette. But which two will advance to the finals? Starting today, it is your obligation to determine just that.

Once again, the instructions are as follows: Cast a vote for your favorite MMA hottie in each of the two polls, with the help of the photographic evidence we’ve provided. (Hit the “next page” link when you’re done with Arianny vs. Mercedes.) If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser or try a different one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section. We’ll collect the results and announce the winners next week.

Okay? So let’s do the damn thing…

(This bracket ain’t big enough for the both of ‘em. Photo courtesy of CombatLifestyle.com)

Ladies and gentlemen — but mostly gentlemen, we’re assuming — your votes have been tabulated, and we’re proud to announce the winners of our “2011 Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” quarterfinals. Read on to see who has advanced to the Final Four, and come back tomorrow afternoon to start voting on the semi-finals.

For round-of-16 results, click here.

(To see the original round-of-16 bracket, click here.)

It’s true — we lost a lot of good women on Tuesday. But thanks to your votes, eight lovely ladies remain, and they need your help to advance to the semi-finals.

In case you’re new here, the instructions are simple: Cast a vote for your favorite MMA hottie in each of the four polls, with the help of the photographic evidence we’ve provided. Hit the “next page” link when you’re done with each poll. If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser or try a different one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section. We’ll collect the results and announce the winners next Thursday.

You ready? Then let’s get it on…

(ReX13 would like to sincerely apologize for any awkwardness our thoughtless Pool B seeding may have caused.)

After collecting nearly 25,000 (!) votes over the last week, we’re ready to reveal the winners of our “Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” round-of-16. Read on to see the results for the four Pool A matchups, then hit the “next page” link to see which four ladies survived Pool B. And please come back on Thursday for the start of the quarterfinal round!

Get your voting fingers ready, Potato Nation — the right side of the “2011 Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” bracket is live and ready for action. But first, a very important announcement about the wild-card spot: After picking up 61.5% of the popular vote against Chandella Powell and Joanne Spracklen, Juliana Salimeni has advanced to the round-of-16, where she will be taking on #1-seeded Gina Carano. Congrats, Juju, and may your Cinderella story have a happy ending.

Now, the usual instructions. With the help of the photographic aids we’ve provided below, cast your vote for your favorite lady in each of the four polls; hit the “next page” link when you’re done with each one. Any questions, let us know in the comments section. If you don’t see the poll widget under each pairing of girls, please refresh your browser, or try a different one.

We plan to announce the complete list of winners from the Grand Prix’s opening round on Tuesday, so if you haven’t yet cast a vote for Pool A, there’s still time to make a difference. Without further ado, let’s get started…

(Click all images for larger versions.)

Jade Bryce is a 26-year-old model from Austin, Texas, who has been recruited as a ring girl for Bellator’s fourth season. At 5’3″, Jade describes herself as a “travel size model,” but there’s a big heart in that compact frame — she donates part of her modeling income to the socially conscious non-profit organizations CRASH and Invisible Children. You can get to know Jade better on Facebook, her Model Mayhem page, and her modeling blog. Lots more pics of Jade Bryce are after the jump — including a lovely set of NSFW images that we’ve placed on a separate page for your safety.

Corissa Furr is a 26-year-old model from Maryland who now makes Huntington Beach, California her home. On Friday, it was announced that Corissa had won the Strikeforce Knockout Ring Girl Contest that had been running on SF’s Facebook page, and would be making her Strikeforce ring girl debut this Saturday in Columbus for “Feijao vs. Henderson.” With a list of previous credits that range from appearances on Spike TV’s MANswers to modeling assignments for Sassy Assy, we have no doubt that Ms. Furr will have what it takes to hang with Kelli Hutcherson and…y’know…those other chicks. Follow Corissa’s updates at twitter.com/corissafurr and check out more pics of her after the jump…

(Click for larger versions. Trust me.)

From CombatLifestyle‘s wonderful new UFC 127: The UFC hits the Beach set. Good lord, I wish I was there today instead of dreary-ass Brooklyn. Lots more highlights after the jump…

Props to MMA Mania for giving us the heads-up about Carol Dias, a Brazilian MMA ring girl who is currently campaigning to be a part of the UFC Rio show in August. According to this interview with Terra Magazine, Dias is a 24-year-old model and journalism student, and wants to hold round-cards for the UFC when they visit her home country so that she can meet her favorite fighters, including Anderson Silva, Mauricio Rua, and (of course) Georges St. Pierre. On the topic of beauty’s advantages in the corporate world, Dias says: “A beleza ajuda sim. Mas com certeza o que faz você crescer é aquilo que você pode oferecer intelectualmente. Afinal a beleza acaba, não? O que você aprende, você não esquece. Beleza ajuda mas não é o mais importante como muitas pessoas acreditam.”

How true. Check out more lovely pics of Carol after the jump, and follow her life on Twitter.

(Photos via twitter.com/natashawicks. Click all for larger versions.)

Former UFC Octagon Girl Natasha Wicks had herself a little spill last week while longboarding in California. As she explained via Twitter: “Wiped out on my Sector Nine… f-ing hurt 7 flips downhill.. booth cheeks gashed, shoulder gash, hand destroyed … I can honestly say this is one of the worst pains I’ve experienced…crying helps sometimes.. and in this case it def does.. ill b fine ”

As they say, she who does not fall does not stand up. And she who posts photos of her scraped-up ass on twitter runs the risk of having them re-posted by weirdos like us. But hey, if you’re not into open sores, there’s some recent swimsuit photos of a perfectly intact Natasha after the jump. (Props: MMA Roundup)

("You are in luck. There’s a town about three miles that way, I’m sure you’ll find a couple guys there.")

 …at least according to AskMen.com’s just-released Top 99 Most Desirable Women of 2011 list, their annual ranking of attractive famous chicks. It’s good news for the UFC’s alpha ring-girl, who creeps up three spots from her position last year. At this rate, she’ll officially be hotter than Kristen Stewart in 2013.

AskMen collected more than 5 million reader votes for the latest edition of the list, and as is usually the case when you leave it up to the public, the results are all over the map. Blake Lively is #1 for some reason — way ahead of Christina Hendricks (#21), Brooklyn Decker (#36), and Arianny’s TV doppelganger Olivia Munn (#47) — which suggests that AskMen’s masculine readership contains a whole lot of closeted Gossip Girl fans.

One notable omission: Gina Carano didn’t make the cut at all, despite landing at the #68 spot in 2010. Out of sight, out of mind, huh guys? We’ll see if her budding action movie career puts her back in the spotlight next year. You can check out the entire Top 99 list right here. As always, feel free to post your own top ten lists in the comments section…

(Photo via MMAFightGirls)

England’s most beloved MMA ring girl — and 2010 Potato Award Winner — Rhian Sugden will be back in action at BAMMA 5, February 26th at Manchester’s MEN Arena. We just came across this photo and felt compelled to share it. You can now proceed with your day.

Previously: Hot Potato: Rhian Sugden

Good news, perverts: Playboy legend Holly Madison will be taking another lap around the Octagon on New Year’s Day. UFC.com has revealed that the Girls Next Door/Holly’s World star will be returning as a guest Octagon Girl at UFC 125, for the first time since her head-turning appearance at UFC 100. UFC 125 will also see the official UFC debut of beloved WEC card-holder Brittney Palmer. (Damn, and just when I made a New Year’s resolution to not creepily stare at women so much. Ah well, there’s always 2012.) To see more of Miss Madison, check out our photo galleries at the links below…

- ‘Girl Next Door’ Holly Madison to Appear as Guest Octagon Girl at UFC 100
- Hot Potato: Holly Madison Steams Up UFC Magazine

UPDATE: Strikeforce has denied Craner’s story, and claims they have records of paying her for all her appearances and travel expenses.

Of all the ring girls that have come and gone in the employ of Strikeforce, Nicole Craner was one of the all-time greats. These days, the 29-year-old Idaho native holds cards for Shark Fights — which seems like a downgrade until you learn that Craner wasn’t getting paid at her old job. As she revealed on a recent episode of TUF Crap Radio:

“I think when you’re an organization like the UFC, they value their [Octagon] girls. They treat them well, they’re part of the family, and that’s something that I wanted to do with Strikeforce…With Strikeforce I can honestly say that I don’t think Scott Coker even knew my name. I don’t think he knew any of his ring girls’ names and I’ve never really talked about this before, but it came down to not getting paid; And for me, I treated it as a job and I put a lot of effort into it and when you’re not respected or valued enough, it makes you want to go somewhere else…

So I mean you can pay Frank Shamrock 340,000 dollars to lose but you can’t pay your ring girl 400 bucks?…There were promises made that we were going to do contracts and that we were going to travel and they had me host something that they said Josh Thomson and Cung Le would be hosting, but it was something that they didn’t host or never were going to host and I never got paid for it. So those kinds of things, to me, made me just quit. I felt that if I’m going to put passion into it and I’m going to go out there and put your name out there that I should at least be respected enough and valued as part of the company."

Damn, even the eye-candy’s taking shots at Strikeforce now. But when you consider that NFL cheerleaders make just $50-75 a game, you can’t really expect an MMA ring girl to be compensated with anything more than complimentary booty-shorts and an occasional wink from Mauro Ranallo. Of course, this is all just an excuse to run some more photos of Nicole. You can find those after the jump…

Props (as usual) to MMAFightGirls for introducing us to Shannon Lee Marr, a 20-year-old model and ring girl from North Andover, Massachusetts, who’s currently studying to be a nurse. Shannon has modeled for the MMA labels Knockout Athletics and Boston Brawler, and will appear tomorrow night as a featured ring girl for the CES MMA Snow Brawl at Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island.

Random quote: "I was promoting Knockout Athletics at a recent UFC Expo and MMA fighter Pat Barry had me sign his whitey tighties in front of crowds of people."

Nobody ever said this job would be easy, Shannon. You can see more of Ms. Marr at ModelMayhem.com. A few more choice pics are after the jump…

  
(Photos courtesy of UFC Magazine via MMA Fix. Click all for larger versions.)

The latest issue of UFC Magazine is on newsstands now, featuring a cover story on Georges St. Pierre, a list of the 25 greatest submissions in UFC history, and most importantly, some jaw-dropping photos of new Octagon Girl Brittney Palmer, who will be making her debut at UFC 125 on New Year’s Day. Of course, Brittney is already a familiar sight to anybody who’s followed her work in the WEC. And because CagePotato is your #1 resource for crudely-scanned magazine photos of hot MMA ring girls, shots from her new pictorial are above. What else can you say, except perhaps "My God dat ass"?