Sean O’Malley isn’t on board with Alana McLaughlin’s women’s MMA career. Transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin has been attracting more attention by the day since her MMA debut last Friday at Combate Global: Perez vs. Roa. Today, that attention wi…
Sean O’Malley isn’t on board with Alana McLaughlin’s women’s MMA career. Transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin has been attracting more attention by the day since her MMA debut last Friday at Combate Global: Perez vs. Roa. Today, that attention will get amplified multifold with one of the sport’s rising stars weighing in on the subject in […]
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has weighed in on transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin following her MMA debut win in Combate Global over the weekend. While Bisping says he supports transgender rights, he thinks it shouldn’t pertain to the full-throttle nature of cage fighting. Bisping has become one of the most prominent voices in MMA […]
Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has weighed in on transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin following her MMA debut win in Combate Global over the weekend. While Bisping says he supports transgender rights, he thinks it shouldn’t pertain to the full-throttle nature of cage fighting.
Bisping has become one of the most prominent voices in MMA today, following his retirement after losing to Kelvin Gastelum. He recently signed a brand-new multi-year contract extension as a UFC analyst with ESPN, along with diving into the podcasting world.
During a recent episode of his Believe You Me podcast, Bisping gave his two cents regarding transgender fighters in professional MMA amidst McLaughlin’s dominant start to her career.
“I’m not here to talk about transgender rights, you can identify as whatever you want,” Bisping said. “But I do believe that if you’re a woman that feels trapped in a man’s body, there are certain advantages that you should have to give up. If you have the body of a man, competing against girls or women, when you’re using your body to beat someone unconscious, has to be one of those things you sacrifice.”
“If you want to play volleyball, soccer, be my guest. But in a sport that you beat someone into submission or unconsciousness, it shouldn’t be allowed. It’s unfair to women’s MMA.”
McLaughlin has come under fire after winning her debut in Combate Global after images surfaced of her looking jacked before transitioning to a woman. Bisping and others have expressed concern regarding the integrity of allowing McLaughlin and others to compete, despite still being in favor of transgender rights.
Bisping continues to be one of the most prominent voices in MMA today, especially on controversial issues such as those regarding transgender athletes. It’ll be interesting to see how this topic evolves moving forward.
What are your thoughts on Michael Bisping’s comments regarding transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin?
Outspoken television presenter and Daily Mail reporter, Piers Morgan has claimed that recent victor, transgender mixed martial arts fighter, Alana McLaughin made him “sick” following her recent submission victory over Celine Provost under the Combate Global banner. Competing under the Campbell McClaren-led, Combate Global banner, McLaughlin became just the second openly transgender fighter to compete in professional […]
Competing under the Campbell McClaren-led, Combate Global banner, McLaughlin became just the second openly transgender fighter to compete in professional mixed martial arts, following Fallon Fox. McLaughlin is a former U.S. Army Special Forces member.
McLaughlin, 38, made her professional mixed martial arts bow against the above mentioned, Provost, submitting the 32-year-old with a rear-naked choke after a successful takedown attempt, however, McLaughlin survived an early scare in the opening round with Provost connecting on the feet, drawing a notable wobble.
The aforenoted, Morgan claimed that McLaughin’s submission victory over Provost wasn’t necessarily a surprise to him, given the fact she had “spent six years serving in the U.S. special forces as a man“.
Morgan claimed that whilst he respected McLauglin’s service with the U.S. Special Forces overseas service in which she acted within a 12-person team, treated IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) casualties, he claimed he “found Friday’s bout sickening to watch“.
Posting on her official Instagram afterwards, McLaughlin, who plys her trade at MMA Masters in Florida, explained that she had received “nasty messages” following her victory.
“Good morning, friends, supporters and others!” Alana McLaughlin posted. “I’m getting a lot of variations of the same nasty messages calling me a cheater like I didn’t just get beat on for a round and a half. Y’all need to show @cylinelagrande some respect and take your concern trolling elsewhere. She almost finished me more than once, and on scorecards she definitely won that first round. This is the only post I’ll make about this. Transphobes are just making my block hand stronger.“
Notably, UFC bantamweight contender, Sean O’Malley voiced his disapproval with McLaughlin’s professional debut against Provost, explaining how he believes it’s not okay.
“I don’t think that’s okay,” O’Malley said. “I just don’t think that’s okay… in just competing in sports, I mean, especially mixed. It’s like she had testosterone for, who knows, 20, 30 years of her life and now I’m a girl. And look at that, you could tell that’s a dude. A jacked girl. I mean, look at those arms.“
UFC middleweight Sean Strickland did not hold back when sharing his thoughts on the debut of transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin. This past Friday at Combate Global: Perez vs. Roa, McLaughlin made her debut against France’s Celine Provost, w…
UFC middleweight Sean Strickland did not hold back when sharing his thoughts on the debut of transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin. This past Friday at Combate Global: Perez vs. Roa, McLaughlin made her debut against France’s Celine Provost, who was also making her pro debut in the fight. Provost had a successful first round but […]
Fallon Fox is giving praise to fellow transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin after she picked up a victory in her pro debut. Fox made international headlines 2012 when she became the first transgender person to compete in professional MMA. She would go on to finish her career with a 5-1 record, with her lone loss […]
Fallon Fox is giving praise to fellow transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin after she picked up a victory in her pro debut.
Fox made international headlines 2012 when she became the first transgender person to compete in professional MMA. She would go on to finish her career with a 5-1 record, with her lone loss coming at the hands of Ashlee Evans-Smith. Fox endured much criticism throughout her career, from MMA fans to UFC commentator Joe Rogan, who addressed her career on an episode of the Joe Rogan Experience.
“First of all, she’s not really a she,” Rogan said. “She’s a transgender, post-op person. The operation doesn’t shave down your bone density. It doesn’t change. You look at a man’s hands and you look at a woman’s hands and they’re built different. They’re just thicker, they’re stronger, your wrists are thicker, your elbows are thicker, your joints are thicker. Just the mechanical function of punching, a man can do it much harder than a woman can, period.”
Over the weekend, McLaughlin became the first transgender person since Fox retired in 2014 to follow in her footsteps. She faced Celine Provost at Combate Global, winning the fight by second round submission. Afterwards, Fox posted pictures of the two celebrating together.
“”Aaaaaaaaand here with the winner of tonight’s fight, by rear naked choke, @AlanaFeral !!! #Team Trans #Trans Athletes”
Yo @AlanaFeral! This is a awesome photo of your submission #TeamTrans #TransAthletes #TransFighters”
Ice cream with my favorite MMA fighter @AlanaFeral! #TransAthletes #TransFighters
Like Fox, McLaughlin too has faced her share of criticism for venturing into the MMA world. Most notably, UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland has taken aim at her, calling her out over his Instagram account.
For her part, McLaughlin has remained undeterred and has said she hopes to continue her MMA career.
What do you think of transgender fighters like Fallon Fox and Alana McLaughlin competing in MMA?
Sean Strickland hasn’t held back when giving his thoughts on Alana McLaughlin competing in MMA. The transgender fighter debuted with a win at Combate on Friday evening, but the fight was definitely not one-way traffic. McLaughlin survived being badly rocked in the first round before coming on strong in the second to secure a submission […]
Sean Strickland hasn’t held back when giving his thoughts on Alana McLaughlin competing in MMA.
The transgender fighter debuted with a win at Combate on Friday evening, but the fight was definitely not one-way traffic. McLaughlin survived being badly rocked in the first round before coming on strong in the second to secure a submission win over Celine Provost.
McLaughlin is the first openly transgender Mixed Martial Arts fighter to compete in the USA since 2014.
Since the fight, she has received some flack and taken to Twitter to address the people who believe she is a “cheater.”
“Good morning, friends, supporters and others! I’m getting a lot of variations of the same nasty messages calling me a cheater like I didn’t just get beat on for a round and a half. Y’all need to show Céline Provost some respect and take your concern trolling elsewhere,” Alana McLaughlin wrote on social media. “She almost finished me more than once, and on scorecards she definitely won that first round. This is the only post I’ll make about this. Transphobes are just making my block hand stronger.”
Strickland appears to be one of the people with “nasty messages” for McLaughlin. The UFC middleweight contender reacted to the trans fighters’ MMA debut on social media and called for the 38-year-old to “get out of women’s MMA.”
“Change your name, call yourself a woman… but you’re still a fu****g man, get out of women’s MMA, coward,” Strickland wrote on his Instagram story. “This is why the athletic commission is useless.”
“I consider myself a classical feminist,” Strickland added. “If your religion or government has an unequal standard for women then I’m not with it. Testicles at birth == man. Ovaries at birth ==== woman.”
Do you agree with Sean Strickland on transgender fighters in MMA?