A FIGHT is never complete without the quintessential sexy ring girls.
For the last three months, local ring girls have been part of Resorts World Sentosa's monthly Martial Combat event.
But this time, four Aussie lasses are taking over the honours.
Are local babes not good enough?
That's not it, co-organiser ESPN Star Sports told The New Paper.
In an e-mail response, Mr Victor Cui, senior director of ESPN Star Sports, said: "It is very difficult to find talent in Singapore who are capable of doing a dance routine and interested in being a ring girl. Oddly enough, this is very common in North America and Australia."
Since the championships debuted in May, ring girls have been recruited via local modelling agencies.
Having overseas ring girls from an international agency this time "keeps things fresh", Mr Cui added.
He said: "This is an international event with international television exposure... We attract fighters from every country and every race and we apply that same open philosophy to our entertainment whether it be ring girls or musical performances.
"Throughout the 12 events a year, we will be looking to work with a variety of ring girls from around the region.
"In an effort to continually keep things fresh and exciting for ticket buyers, fans and viewers, we change our ring girls every few events."
So what exactly do ring girls do?
Basically, they flash cards that display the number of the upcoming round.
They are also supposed to heat up the atmosphere and knock the crowd out with excitement during the event.
While their job seems simple enough, it's harder than it looks, the Aussie babes say.
A feisty Amie Sacco, 19, told The New Paper: "Someone threw a pizza crust on my head from the back. I didn't turn back to look at the culprit but I knew where they were sitting.
"So when I went back up the ring, I held up my card, looked at them straight in the eye for a long time as if telling them, 'Look who's standing up here now?'" she added with a smirk.
Called names
Fellow ring girl Tara Dutton, 25, said she has also been called names and used to get defensive over such comments.
You don't know me, she'd hiss, so who are you to judge me?
Now, the brunette said she's learnt to let it go.
She added: "I don't let them get to me. I think it's just them overcome with jealousy and saying mean things to compensate for what they lack."
Dutton, Sacco and Katie Hensworth have been ring girls Down Under but Ash Richardson is the newbie in the scene.
It's not just the name-calling and pizza crusts that the girls have had to fend off.
Their seductive looks and voluptuous physiques have also earned them the - perhaps derogatory - tag "sex objects".
But the Aussie babes, who arrived on Monday morning, don't mind being labelled as such.
Richardson, 22, said: "We are here to look pretty. We are meant to be sex objects. If we get that kind of response, that means we've done our job well.
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"We know that we're smart. That's all that counts."
Besides, they're used to the attention anyway, Dutton said matter-of-factly.
"It's just like walking down the street. People stare at us all the time."
So we know that they flash cards that display the number of the upcoming round.
That's because "announcing over the sound system doesn't cut it," Hensworth, 24, said.
"People are visual creatures. They need something to see. Besides, it's going to be so noisy. I doubt they'll hear any announcement at all."
After they're introduced, the babes will perform a dance number Pussycat-Dolls style before taking to the ring with the cards.
Dutton thinks their presence "breaks up the testosterone levels in the room and gets people excited about the upcoming round".
Dutton and Richardson said their boyfriends are very supportive of what they do.
Richardson, who's been dating her partner for 1 1/2 years, admitted that he sometimes gets jealous because of the attention other men give her.
"But he's proud of me. He kind of goes, 'That's my girl.' He knows I still go home to him in the end."
Hensworth and Sacco said they aren't seeing anyone at the moment.
All except Richardson are part-time models. Richardson is a full-time model.
While they haven't been asked by the organisers to interact with the mainly male audience, all said they won't mind doing so.
The perky foursome - they said they take about an hour to preen themselves - was such a riot when The New Paper met them at 10am yesterday.
Immaculately dressed and made up, they dished out anecdotes animatedly, joked about the invisible "rolls" on their stomachs as they sat down and gladly obliged to the photographer's requests to put on sultry looks or flash their pearly whites.
A good ring girl needs a positive attitude, Hensworth said.
Dutton said: "It's a fun job. We don't care about what happened before work and at home. We're supposed to make the place and people sparkle."
The girls leave on Friday. But until then, they'll be here to work the crowd and get some shopping done.
Where's good to shop, they asked.
Dutton: "We want sexy stuff, like shorts, heels and little tops."
Now, who wants to volunteer to take the boisterous foursome out?
FYI
WHAT: Resorts World Sentosa Martial Combat
WHEN: 8pm, today and tomorrow
WHERE: Compass Ballroom, Resorts World Convention Centre
TICKETS: $50, $80, $100, $120, $300 from Sistic (www.sistic.com.sg or call 6348 5555. For season passes and corporate group bookings, call 6577 7682.)
This article was first published in The New Paper.
