Women working in traditional male professions. Men becoming stay at home parents. Transgender citizens running for political office. Times are changing, but sports has always been a his and hers, well defined arena.
With the success of the US Women's Soccer team and with the attention given to female powerhouse Ronda Rousey of MMA fame, women are being recognized for their athletic achievements. In the video below, Ronda, flirts with her renowned success and even talks of fighting men, especially Floyd Mayweather.
But what about fighting a Transgender opponent? Would Ronda be up for that? If she is not a fraid to fight Floyd Mayweather, why not an opponent like Fallon Fox?
Two and a half years ago, for fear of being outed by snooping journalists as she climbed the ranks of the sport from amateur to professional, Fallon Fox revealed herself as the first known transgender athlete in MMA.
“A reporter came after me and asked me questions about my past. I was scared I could be outed, I felt like I had it coming so I got ahead of it,” Fox says about her decision to tell her story in Sports Illustrated. The scope of anger and vitriol that I received initially … That was disheartening, tragic. It was mind-blowing. I started becoming suicidal; I could have gone my whole career being myself without going through this drama.”
While widely praised beyond the world of MMA for touching on such a ‘taboo’ topic, Fox continues to divide opinion among her peers and her desire to continue competing in the women’s division has turned her into the most controversial character in the sport.
She was labeled a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak,” by Matt Mitrione.
While UFC commentator Joe Rogan famously said “You’re a f***ing man. And she wants to be able to fight women in MMA. I say no f***ing way. If you had a dick at one point in time, you also have all the bone structure that comes with having a dick.” – foxsports.com.au
What’s the case for Fallon? If you would like to read more about Fallon Fox's personal story from childhood, fatherhood, to military service, head on over to Foxsports.com.au.
How does Fallon feel she would do against Rousey and should she get the chance to fight the champion?
She believes her past gives her no advantage, she believes she should be allowed to fight. If it’s good enough for the Olympic Committee why not the UFC?
“I’ve been through a lot of things to change myself from male to female…they decrease my testosterone levels to lower than any other female on the planet who’s not transgender.”
The claims are backed by those in the medical world.
“Male to female transsexuals have significantly less muscle strength and bone density, and higher fat mass, than males” says Dr Eric Vilain, director of the Institute for Society and Genetics at UCLA, who helped the Association of Boxing Commissions put its transgender policy together.
Unfortunately for Fox, Dana White, President of the mixed martial arts organization Ultimate Fighting Championship, is not convinced.
“Bone structure is different, hands are bigger, jaw is bigger, everything is bigger. I don’t believe in it. I don’t think someone who used to be a man and became a woman should be able to fight a woman.” – foxsports.com.au
But should Fallon be allowed to fight in the MMA? She already is and has a record of 5-1. It looks like the MMA / UFC will not allow a high stakes fight to occur, but given the chance and opportunity to make a pretty penny, they would allow a Rousey / Mayweather fight?
[While] Rousey initially refused to consider fighting Fallon due to her “unfair advantage” she has since clarified her position saying she would never refuse to fight a trans-athlete but would consider the opponents on a “case-by-case basis”. – foxsports.com.au
And is that the way it should be? Should Rousey be able to pic who she fights?
Should there be a Rousey / Fox battle?
Should all transgender cases in sports be a case-by-case basis or should there be a blanket policy for all sports?