Golden Globes Producers Defend Awkward 'Heated Rivalry' Moment with UFC Promo

Heated Rivalry fans were not thrilled with the way Connor Storrie and Hudson Williams were introduced to the stage at the 2026 Golden Globes, but the producers of the show are defending the bit.

To promote Paramount’s partnership with the UFC, CBS used the actors’ rise to fame to joke that they needed extra security because of their popularity.

The announcer said, “Our next presenters are so hot right now, they get mobbed everywhere they go, so we had to bring in some extra security from the UFC.” The fighters then walked on stage and circled around without saying anything before Hudson and Connor made their entrances.

Fans called the moment awkward and cringeworthy.

Executive producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss have defended the moment.

Keep reading to find out more…

“I’ll say this. We were creating this party atmosphere. We were trying to not just present everything as traditional award shows would present them, maybe taking a few attention-grabbing moments and all, and UFC is obviously entering a new thing with CBS and Paramount+, so they’re all partners,” Weiss told Deadline. “So we basically decided to take two elements that are kind of hot right now, the Heated Rivalry, it’s insane what kind of attention it’s getting right now, to juxtapose it with that and create this moment together, we thought it was a fun little moment.”

“I think we’re getting more questions about it than anything else. So it got attention, right?” he added.

They also said the Connor and Hudson were involved in the writing of their sketch.

Kishner said, “A lot of times you write stuff for presenters and they are like, yeah, no, maybe, they add to it. So we worked with them a little bit on a couple of different ideas, and the one they signed off on was that. And then when they showed up for the rehearsal, they really committed to the bet. So it actually worked great.”

Check out their cute backstage moment!