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6 months ago
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Aussie boxer Ebanie Bridges has lashed out at fight fans who have a 'fantasy' about her and Conor McGregor, lashing out after having to continuously defend her friendship with the UFC legend.
McGregor and Bridges first met at Irish professional boxer and former footballer Katie Taylor's opening bout against Chantelle Cameron last May and then went to see Anthony Joshua fight Robert Helenius a few months after that.
After the match, Bridges had to respond to criticism about her friendship with McGregor. Two months later, they confirmed their relationship by announcing a sponsorship agreement.
Now, Bridges is sponsored by McGregor's Forged Irish Stout.
Aussie boxer Ebanie Bridges and UFC superstar Conor McGregor have a strong friendship and business relationship
Despite repeatedly saying they are just friends, the rumour mill continues to churn on social media from fight fans
That has done little to quieten the online noise from fans suggesting the duo are more than just friends - and Bridges has had enough.
'Yeah, it's f**king annoying [that I have to defend our friendship] because it's so clear to me,' Bridges told instantcasinos.com.
'Maybe I'm either really smart or I just think it's common sense. I think they [fans] have this little fantasy that we're f**king, and then they get excited about that and maybe go have a w**k.
'I don't know but that's all I can think of. Because honestly if there was something going on, I feel like we wouldn't be together in public if we were doing something like that.
'I wouldn't be wearing that branded clothing all the time and having a Forged Irish Stout in my hand all the time. It's clearly promotion.
'They want to think it up in their head for whatever reason, for their own little fantasies or to try and bring me down or to try and bring Conor down, because he has a lot of haters as well.
But in the end, the people that are saying that, they're just trying to spread rumours and make things up or make themselves excited.'
Bridges has become as well known for flashing the flesh as she has for her boxing ability
Irish fighter McGregor has four children with his long-time partner Dee Devlin
McGregor and Bridges insist their relationship is strictly business and the Aussie said anything else is a 'fantasy'
It is not the first time that Bridges has been forced to defend her friendship with the UFC star and budding Hollywood action hero.
The former world champion travelled to Dublin in February to visit McGregor and spend the night partying at one of his pubs.
Bridges shared pictures from her night on the tiles with the former two-weight champion and 6-1 professional boxer Jasmina Zapotoczna.
That invited a host of inappropriate comments questioning Bridges' relationship with McGregor, who has four children with his long-time partner Dee Devlin.
Bridges put them in their place with a four-word response: 'That's what friends do.'
The Aussie boxer said in November that her and McGregor's many public appearances together were purely business.
'He uses me for clout really. He's sponsoring me to get his brand out. That's what sponsors do,' she said at the time.
'We met at the AJ fight and I wore his brand there, because he's using me to get his brand out. Otherwise he'd be wearing a stout shirt.
'But we work together because he knows – me and him – will get people talking about his brand.
'It's not that I need him, but we both help each other out, we are both an asset to each other's brands, we both help build each other, it's not one-sided.
'They reached out to me, it wasn't me chasing them.'
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