Ring Girl Monica Arteaga: "I Won't Be Returning To Bellator For Season 4"

Every once in awhile, on this crazy place we call Earth, we come across a person that is so incredibly good looking that we can’t help but wonder if they are truly a member of the human race or not.

For instance, last week I was enjoying a fantastic plate of baby back ribs at a local Applebees with my ex-wife (and baby’s momma) Kim Kardashian and current fiancée Jessica Alba (and other baby’s momma) when out of nowhere Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones got up in my grill and demanded that I give them the location of the “Light of Zartha.”

When I tried to plead with them that I was not an extra terrestrial and I was just an average pimp enjoying dinner with my two hoes, they told me that it was not humanly possible to be that unbelievably good looking.

MMA ring girl Monica Arteaga can certainly relate as she suffers a similar problem. Many believe that this gorgeous brunette from Chicago is actually a sexy android from the future designed to take over the world.

However, through speaking with Arteaga I can assure you that she is not a robot but just a super beautiful human being… that is designed to take over the world.

Arteaga first burst onto the MMA scene when she, along with fellow brunette Mercedes Terrell, was hired on as a ring girl for the Bellator Fighting Championships in 2010.

Believe it or not, it all started from a simple Facebook message.

“I actually didn’t even know about the contest, I was approached on Facebook by a friend of a friend about this ring girl search and at first I thought it was a scam,” Arteaga told Mitch Ciccarelli in a recent episode of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun Radio.

“But I looked into it and saw that it was legit and I sent in my pictures [along with] a brief bio and they contacted me. We sat and talked for a little bit and the next day they called me back and I went back in to try on the outfit and they said ‘welcome to Bellator’. Then the week after that I was touring with them.”

For Arteaga, it was a dream job but not because of the publicity and attention. She was already a huge MMA fan prior to the gig so just being able to observe the sport up close and personal was an incredible experience.

“I grew up with my dad, and anytime there was a [boxing] Pay-Per-View we were always watching it or any boxing event in general. Then we spent a lot of time watching the old ESPN shows with Mohammed Ali and “Sugar” Ray Leonard so I definitely grew up with a love for watching boxing,” Arteaga said.

“I started to love MMA because [there are] just so many different fighting styles involved in it and you can’t help but fall in love with the sport. I honestly enjoy watching two guys beat the hell out of each other. I don’t know if that sounds right coming from a girl but I love watching it.”

What’s interesting about Arteaga is that, unlike Terrell, she didn’t have an accomplished modeling portfolio before becoming a ring girl.

Her career was jumpstarted with Bellator and she notes that she is very fortunate and thankful for the opportunity they gave her.

“I did promotional modeling, a very tiny bit in Chicago but my actual modeling debut was with Bellator. It’s definitely opened up a lot of doors for me and I owe that a lot to [Bellator CEO] Bjorn [Rebney] and Bellator for giving me a chance but I had never thought that I would be modeling… ever,” said Arteaga.

As Ben Parker would say, with great power, comes great responsibility and that definitely rings true with MMA ring girls too.

Because with great sexiness, comes great creepiness and the prettier you are the creepier the stalkers are going to be.

Arteaga describes a time where she and Terrell were unleashing their inner fat kid after a great night of fights when a strange photographer approached them.

“Mercedes [Terrell] and I have definitely run into a couple of weirdos, one time we were at the Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida. It was after the show so we were still in our robes”, Arteaga said.

“We were starving and the only thing that was open was this little pizza stand so we went up to get some pizzas and when we sat down this guy literally came within not even a foot away, not even trying to be discreet about it, took a picture of me as I was eating my pizza.”

“I was stunned with my mouth wide open as this guy took his iPhone out and took a picture of me and then shrugged his shoulders, smiled and walked away.”

Let the record show that the mystery peeping-pizza boy is actually none other than Bleacher Report’s own Robert Gardner. He has a pizza fetish.

Fun fact; Robert Gardner isn’t allowed to come within 12 feet of a Papa John’s because they caught him doing unspeakable things to the dough.

Getting back on topic, Bellator has been delivering some incredible fights over the past two years featuring some of the hottest prospects in MMA.

Arteaga has witnessed these bouts firsthand and when asked if she had a favorite, one particular fight stood out to her.

“That’s a tough one but I’d have to say Jared Hess vs. [Alexander] Shlemenko [at Bellator 20] when Jared snapped his ACL and PCL and they found out in the third round,” Arteaga said.

“That fight was just amazing, it was standup the whole time and nobody thought that it was going to be but what nobody knew was that Jared’s leg got snapped from one of Shlemenko’s kicks in the first round and he fought through the first, second and third with a torn leg, he had so much heart."

One of the most compelling aspects of Bellator, aside from their tournament format, is the fact that their roster is made up entirely of promising up and comers.

Bellator is slowly but surely bringing these young fighters up, promoting them as the stars of tomorrow and in doing so they are creating a brand of homegrown talent.

The organization doesn’t really have a “face” yet but with as many prospects as they have, Arteaga believes there is a lot of marketing potential.

“I think Joe Warren is very marketable, he’s a great fighter and has a great personality. Eddie Alvarez too, I mean I think a lot of the guys have a ton of potential and are great in all their own ways,” Arteaga said.

After spending a sufficient amount of time discussing Bellator and their new deal with MTV 2, Arteaga broke the news that she unfortunately won’t be returning to the organization for their upcoming season 4 tournament.

“I’m actually, and I don’t know if this will be taken as a shocker or not, but I’m actually not going to be returning to Bellator this season,” Arteaga said.

“There was kind of a disconnection between Bellator and I, which is on both parties. I thought that I was going to be returning and then I found out that I wasn’t but Mercedes is still going to be touring and I don’t know who my replacement is going to be. I talked to Bjorn [Rebney] so maybe in June I will be [returning] but as far as right now with the fourth season I will not be with Bellator but I wish them the best of luck.”

This news will undoubtedly bring many Bellator fans to tears but she assured me that this absolutely won’t be the last we see of her in MMA, it may not even be the last we see of her in Bellator.

“[Laughs] I hope so, I mean I hope that [the fans] would be asking for me back. I’m a nerd so I kind of feel like I don’t even have fans but if I do [I just want to say] ‘Hi, I love you, ask for me back’ [laughs]. I don’t have any bad feelings towards Bellator, it was just miscommunication and hopefully I will be back but if not then I wish them nothing but the best,” Arteaga said.

“I definitely want to stay in MMA because, like I said, I love this sport and traveling was always fun and being able to watch the fights right there in front of you is amazing. I want to be more involved this time and get to know the fighters a little better and their backgrounds.”

“Obviously, I learned a lot from touring with them but I feel like I need to fill in my knowledge gap. Hosting my own show one day or just doing fighter interviews or anything like that, I think would be amazing.”

Click the link to listen to the entire interview on Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun Radio

Listen to internet radio with CTHL MMA Radio on Blog Talk Radio

Mitch Ciccarelli is the sexiest columnist in MMA. A staff writer for Heavy MMA, featured columnist for B/R and host of Crouching Tiger Hidden Leprechaun MMA Radio, Ciccarelli is also a future United States Airman beginning basic training this March. He is also engaged to Eva Mendes and Jessica Simpson.

Follow Ciccarelli on twitter, unless you have herpes. @MitchCiccarelli