If George Shunick’s piece on Fallox Fox and transgender athletes in MMA proved anything to me, it’s that – regardless of whether you agree with Joe Rogan’s stance on the issue (or how he chose to express that stance) – Cris Cyborg vs. Fallon Fox is a fight that FANS NEED TO SEE DAMMIT. One fighter is arguably the most devastating female in MMA, yet is also constantly accused of being a man. The other fighter is undefeated, used to literally be a man, and now calls herself “The Queen of Swords” because of course she calls herself that. In fact, I’m willing to write that Cris Cyborg vs. Fallon Fox – if it were to happen – would go down as the single greatest superfight in the history of MMA, because hyperbole is a pretty rad figure of speech that we don’t use nearly enough around here.
Well, good news, fight fans: Cyborg took a break from preparing to sacrifice Fiona Muxlow to ensure a good harvest and delivering completely pointless trash talk against Ronda Rousey to offer her two cents on Fallon Fox. As ESPN’s Josh Gross recently wrote:
“She wants to be a girl. I don’t agree,” said Santos, who for the first time in almost a year and half will return to fighting on April 5. “I think you’re born a girl, you’re a girl. You’re born a guy, you’re a guy. But I don’t choose opponents. The commission needs to check and make sure she doesn’t have testosterone.
“I’m not going to judge other people. If the commission says she can fight, why not?”
The 27-year-old Strikeforce champion tested positive for steroids following her 16-second demolition of Hiroko Yamanaka in December 2011, so that quote will inspire contempt in some people. But that’s nothing new for Santos. Because of her muscular build and aggressive fighting style, she’s been subjected to cruel, crude name calling throughout her career. She said she understands what Fox must be going through in a world in which everyone with an opinion can have access to the people they’re opining about via social media.
“People tell me on Twitter: ‘I think you have a d—.’ A lot of bad things, they say. I think people have a small mind,” Santos said.
“They don’t think a girl can punch hard like a man. I think people are ignorant. People are stupid. I don’t want to be the same as people who do that.”
Far be it from me to try to make sense out of the “make sure she doesn’t have testosterone” comment. My small mind was blown at the very notion that Cris Cyborg vs. Fallon Fox may totally happen, provided that everyone can agree on a weight class. Considering that they both fight at featherweight, this shouldn’t be too hard.
Naturally, once Cyborg expressed her willingness to fight The Queen of Swords, she returned to her regular schedule of wrestling, sparring and accusing Ronda Rousey of being protected from her by the powers that be. As she told Bleacher Report:
“I don’t want to talk trash about somebody, I want to prove it inside the cage. When she was in my weight class she said ‘I want to fight Cris Cyborg’ and when I had my last fight against Hiroko (Yamanaka) I talked to Sean Shelby, the matchmaker at Strikeforce, and I said ‘I want Ronda next.’ He said ‘no, she’s not ready for you’ and after that fight she’s talking bad about me but you guys protected her,” Santos revealed in an interview with Bleacher Report
“Because after my fight I told them I want to fight her and they said no she’s not ready for you.”
…
“She fought at 154 (pounds) in Judo, and I think who is running? It’s not me. I fight at 145, she fought at 145, who’s running from this fight? Not me,” said Cyborg. “People need to see the fact to see who’s running.”
The woman who refused to sign with the UFC is the person not running from this fight. Sure, why not? Normally, I’d mean that in the most sarcastic way possible, but since Cyborg vs. Fox would never, ever happen in the UFC, I’ll just accept those comments at face value and move on.
Now the only question is whether or not Fox is willing to step up and fight Cyborg. Will that happen or not, Potato Nation? And who would win this hypothetical superfight?