MMA fans baffled by ‘cringe’ UFC skit at Golden Globes

There were a couple of UFC fighters present at last weekend’s Golden Globes ceremony, and it’s safe to say their appearance left fight fans pretty confused. In fact, that’s putting it lightly.

The Golden Globes went down on Sunday night, and aired on CBS. The UFC, of course, just inked a new broadcast deal with CBS parent company Paramount, and will have a multiple events on the network this year.

As part of that new partnership, UFC flyweight champ Mackenzie Dern and former featherweight title challenger Brian Ortega were invited to the Golden Globes. They also participated in a brief skit—if you can even call it that—during the festivities, masquerading as “security” for the stars in attendance.

See the clip below.

UFC fighters take the stage at the Golden Globes

Just a little added security at the @GoldenGlobes 💪

[ @MackenzieDern | @BrianTCity | @ParamountPlus ] pic.twitter.com/Q58IBnbY5l

— UFC (@ufc) January 12, 2026

This was obviously an attempt to promote the UFC as the new deal with Paramount kicks off. However, it seems like it may have backfired.

Fight fans were almost unanimously negative to posts about the ordeal on social media.

“Couldn’t imagine something more cringe,” one fan wrote.

“This was f**king stupid, who thought this was a good idea?” another fan wondered.

Some fans were slightly more forgiving, but clearly still weren’t impressed.

“Bruh this must have been so embarrassing for them,” one fan posted. “I’m all in for giving the UFC more exposure, but not like this man.”

“Love to see the UFC marketing themselves to outsiders but how poorly did the script writer implement that into the night,” another fan echoed.

Clearly, Paramount will need to rethink how it promotes the UFC at the other events on its networks. Then again, people are talking about this bizarre crossover, for better or worse. Maybe that makes it a success after all.