Fallon Fox is a transgender MMA veteran. She has been at the center of a heated debate in the sports world for several years. Recently a claim about her hurting a female competitor in MMA resurfaced.
While Fox did break the scull of a female competitor, the image often accompanying posts of Fox belongs to former UFC star Kay Hansen.
Fox still maintains that transgender athletes do not have an inherent advantage over their cisgender counterparts, many in the BJJ and MMA community have strongly disagreed.
The Story of Fallon Fox
Fallon Fox competed in MMA from 2011 to 2014. In 2013, Fox publicly revealed that she was transgender, and the MMA community was quick to condemn her. Joe Rogan, a well-known MMA commentator, was among her most vocal critics at the time.
Despite the backlash, Fox has continued to defend her belief that biological males do not have an inherent advantage over biological females once they have undergone hormone replacement therapy (HRT). She has also continued to undergo HRT to this day.
However, Fox has been criticized for sharing medical misinformation on social media in order to push her agenda. Recently, she shared her own anecdotal experience of competing against biological women in jiu jitsu as evidence that HRT negates any biological advantage.
Debating the Advantage
While there is certainly no doubt that HRT can affect an athlete’s physical abilities, the debate surrounding transgender athletes is much more complicated than that. For example, it’s worth noting that jiu jitsu is a young sport with limited earning opportunities, meaning there is a relatively small pool of competitors to begin with.
Additionally, PED abuse is prevalent in the sport, particularly at higher levels, making it difficult to draw concrete conclusions about the advantages or disadvantages of certain physiological traits.
Moreover, it’s important to consider that even with HRT, biological males may still have certain advantages over biological females.
For instance, monthly cycle can impact a female athlete’s performance, and female athletes may also experience issues related to bone density. As a result, many believe that more research is needed to truly understand the impact of HRT on athletic performance.
