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          UFC fighter proposes to girlfriend -- who wasn't at the fight

          Jose Ochoa's postfight proposal was unusual -- but successful. Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC
          • ESPN staffMay 9, 2026, 07:58 PM ET

          A UFC fighter popped the question to his girlfriend ... and she wasn't even there.

          Flyweight fighter Jose Ochoa (9-2-0) defeated Clayton Carpenter (8-3-0) by unanimous decision at UFC 328: Chimaev vs. Strickland on Saturday. During the postfight interview, Ochoa pulled out a ring and proposed.

          "I want to do something special for my soon-to-be wife, the mother of my child," Ochoa said through a translator. "Do you wanna marry me?"

          Ochoa had to wait a little bit for her answer, because she wasn't at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey. She was watching from Brazil. Ochoa told MMA Fighting that she accepted his proposal.

          "She said yes because she was waiting for that moment," he told reporters in his postfight news conference.