Even though her MMA career ended 7 years ago, the story of Fallon Fox is one that refuses to go away. Just recently, the transgender athlete has yet again made headlines. Depending on your stance on the issue, she is either a LGBT+ hero, or a fraud who put female opponent’s in physical danger when fighting them. Regardless of your opinions (and there are many)…the legacy of Fallon Fox is a complicated issue that constantly ignites debate. So, what was it all about?
Back in 1975, Fallon Fox was born as a biological male and growing up, assumed that she was a gay. When Fox entered college, she then identified as a man for the first time. This would have been in the mid-90s at the time. It’s relevant to note this date as back then, the transgender movement was tiny in comparison to this day. Back then, even the term ‘transgender’ would have been met with confusion by most of the public.
Fast forward a few years, and Fox had a child with her then-partner at the time – and eventually saved enough money up to have gender reassignment surgery in Thailand. In 2012, Fox entered the world of MMA and has been a controversial figure ever since.
Firstly, Fox was allowed to fight under the athletic state commissions of Illinois and Florida. To this day, her pro record of 5-1 remains, and 4 of these fights took place in either Illinois or Florida. This bought anger and divisions from the world of MMA at the time.
Popular figures such as ex-UFC ChampionRonda Rousey questioned the fairness of a biological male competing amongst women with a clear, genetic advantage. Rousey stated“I feel like if you go through puberty as a ‘man’ it’s not something you can reverse. There’s no undo button on that.” These thoughts were shared by her boss Dana White at the time who was the chairman of the UFC. Similarly, UFC commentator and popular podcaster Joe Rogan shared his thoughts, adding “First of all, she’s not really a she. She’s a transgender, post-op person. The operation doesn’t shave down your bone density. It doesn’t change.”
Whilst these comments may have been met with criticism by the LGBT+ community, you have to at least admit they aren’t particularly venomous compared to other comments made, especially by MMA fighters. UFC fighter Matt Mitrione who labelled Fox as a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak.” He was subsequently fined by the UFC who claimed to disagree with his views.
Remember, this was back in 2013 when Fox was at the height of her MMA career. Still, five years later the MMA community had not forgotten. This time it was Paulo Costa who said “He was born a man, and he is a man, even though he calls himself a transsexual.” Costa offered to fight Fox for free and even said he would “beat up” Fox.
With this said, it’s fair to say that the MMA community didn’t agree with Fox as a fighter in the women’s division. The comments of Joe Rogan may have had a point to, as in 2014 Fox fought her last bout in the octagon. Here, she concussed her opponent Tamikka Brents who went on to say “I’ve fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night. I can’t answer whether it’s because she was born a man or not because I’m not a doctor.” With this said, all politically correctness set aside, to the mind of Brents at least, this was an unfair fight which featured abnormal strength.
At the same time, Fox defended her right to fight as a woman and responded to Joe Rogan, saying “I’m a transgender woman. I deserve equal treatment and respect to other types of women. I feel that all of this is so ridiculously unnecessary and horribly mean spirited.” She also mentioned that his argument had been used previously to discourage black athletes from competing against other races many years back. Even though this may have been the case, it doesn’t justify her argument either.
Interestingly, Fox was awarded for her time in the cage in 2014, the same year that she broke the skull of Brents. This came with her induction to the 2014 gay and lesbian hall of fame. Commentator Cyd Zeigler even named her “The bravest athlete in human history.”
Whatever your opinions on Fox, her MMA career was literally a first for transgender athletes and was a watermark moment. However, enter 2021, and the name of Fallon Fox keeps coming up. Recently elected president Joe Biden signed a number of documents that effectively allowed biological men to compete as women in all sports. According to Biden, he was committed to “prevent and combat discrimination on the basis of gender identity or sexual orientation”. This was hailed as a breakthrough by LGBT+ groups, yet once again the MMA community didn’t agree.
The likes of BJJ black belt and MMA fighter Tom DeBlass took to Instagram and said “I don’t give a s*** what the law says”
So, what does the future hold? Well, the reality is after Joe Biden’s historic document that more transgender fighters will compete in the future. At the same time, the MMA community still remains strongly against this. Whilst some MMA figures have childishly lashed out on the matter, others have put forward more coherent arguments.
In short, the question is two-fold. On the one hand, are those who pose a biological question based on genetics and science. Of course, a biological man is at a superior advantage over a biological woman. However, the case posed by the likes of Biden and the LGBT+ community is a moral question that is based on inclusion rather than science.
Whatever your views, the role of Fallon Fox in martial arts is a highly controversial one. Even though the Fox events took place years ago, it is also a name that will not go away at anytime soon. With this said, the whole transgender MMA saga looks set to rumble on into the next generation.
