MMA Fighter Julian Marquez Responds to Backlash for Iconic Miley Cyrus Valentine's Proposal Moment

UFC fighter, Julian Marquez recently defended his most comical moment in UFC history. Two years ago, he had taken his chance to ask out iconic pop star, Miley Cyrus during his post-fight interview. According to Sportskeeda, while speaking about the backlash that followed in an interview with Alex Behunin, Marquez said, "How is it a fumble? You'll know me, and you'll forever know me. At the end of the day, it did what it needed to do. Think about it, I'm famous because people are upset that I didn't go on a date with somebody that they wish they could go on a date with..." 

Fans may still find the whole incident worthy of backlash, but Marquez remains confident in his decision to ask Cyrus out and believes that it ultimately "helped him gain more visibility and attention in the industry." Back in 2021, he had picked the opportunity to make a call out to the Wrecking Ball songstress. While speaking to Joe Rogan during his post-fight interview, Marquez called out Cyrus and asked her to be his Valentine. "I've been waiting 31 months to get on this damn microphone and to call these people out right now. This is my time to shine. So, Miley Cyrus! Will you be my valentine?"

According to Daily Mail, Cyrus responded to an ESPN tweet featuring the request a few hours later. "Shave an MC into your chest hair and I am YOURS," she wrote, adding a heart emoji. "Happy VDay and Congrats my love!" she added. But rather than rushing for the clippers, Marquez instead tweeted out an ultimatum of his own for the Flowers singer. "@MileyCyrus If you get a henna tattoo that says Cuban Missle [sic] Crisis above your belly button like 2pac I'm in," he wrote, adding the hashtag, "#ThugLife." He also included a Photoshopped throwback image of Miley with the phrase added to her taut tummy. 

After the impromptu exchange of words, Cyrus didn't make any more statements directly responding to Marquez, but she did post a playful mirror selfie to her Insta Stories that may have been aimed at him. The Angels Like You singer wore a black long-sleeve Led Zeppelin shirt with a knight in armor standing amid flames, and she covered her short blond locks with a hot pink ski cap. She appeared to have on a short black skirt that blended in with the shirt and highlighted her toned legs. "This could be yours but you dumb," she captioned it. 

Regardless of the request from Marquez, Cyrus seemed to have spent that Valentine's Day with her sister Noah Cyrus and her mother Tish. She had also shared an image of herself holding lovely pink, white, and fuchsia flowers in a box while outside. "When your sister is your Valentine @noahcyrus," she wrote. Fans and critics immediately concluded that Marquez had "fumbled the bag" and many took to social media to make memes and joke about his proposal. It appears now, however, that Marquez did not take the ridicule to heart and saw the whole incident in a positive light.