Fallon Fox has accepted Matt Mitrione’s public apology five months after the UFC heavyweight’s on-air rant led to his suspension.
Mitrione’s personal attack against transgender fighter Fox saw a swift response from the UFC in April, which labelled his outburst as “offensive” and “wholly unacceptable.”
Now, on the eve of his return to the Octagon, he told gay sports site, Out Sports, that he was “sorry for using the words” when he spoke “off the cuff.”
“I spoke freely and I made a mess,” Mitrione said. “I made a fool of myself. I spoke really poorly and I had to answer for that.”
Until 2006, when he underwent gender reassignment treatment, Fox was legally a man named Boyd Burton who had grown up in Dallas and gone to Texas colleges for his education.
In May 2012, he stepped into the cage as a woman and went on to win her first two professional MMA fights by way of first round stoppage.
Controversy erupted in March when Fox came out publicly as transgender. Critics said it was unfair for a person who’d spent most of their life with the hormones of a man to start fighting women.
Although Mitrione’s comments were the most forceful, they weren’t uncommon.
Still, the UFC has been known to act tough on these issues, and more recently suspended Nate Diaz for using the slur: “fag.”
Mitrione’s suspensions is now lifted and he’s preparing himself to fight Brendan Schaub at UFC 165 this Saturday.
He told Out Sports that his issue with Fox wasn’t that he considered her a man fighting women, but that the women Fox had fought were unaware of her gender reassignment.
Fox, for her part, took this as an apology and thanked Mitrione.
He made little mention of transsexual women in his apology. However, he did apologize for his words. So, it’s a very good start. Apology accepted, Matt. Thank you for being strong enough to come forth with this. Continue fighting, and kick ass!
Fox is due to fight Ashlee Evans-Smith at CFA 12 on Oct. 12.
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