Cyd Zeigler, co-founder and blogger at Outsports, hailed transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox as “the bravest athlete in history,” writing that she needed to be celebrated as such.
In the article titled “Fallon Fox is still the bravest athlete in history,” Zeigler hailed Fox for rising to the top of the sport by beating her female opponents to within an inch of their life.
One tweet reflecting on the outcome of the fight read: “So scientists who wrote @WorldRugby report that concluded it’s physically unsafe for female players to play male players are just wrong? Fallon Fox (male) breaking the skull of a female (whose skulls are thinner on average) is just bad luck?#SexMatters#SaveWomensSports”
Ziegler wrote that Fox overcame unfair criticism by physically destroying her opponents and even crushing one rival’s skull to win the matches, and that anyone who condemned Fox was a transphobic bigot.
“Yet Fox stood strong and continued to push for, and earn, her right to compete,” Ziegler wrote. “Except for one fateful match, she also won every time she stepped into the professional ring.”
Ziegler promoted his pro-transgender book in the post, whose final chapter is titled “Fallon Fox Is The Bravest Athlete In History.”
He expressed his excitement over the news that Fox could soon return to the ring, writing: “Today, as she works toward getting a degree, Fox is quietly re-emerging on the scene.”
“She had slipped away from the public eye and social media for some time as she nursed injuries and healed her body. Now she’s stepping back in the ring in hopes of some sparring and possible exhibition matches,” he continued.
Ziegler gave Fox an opportunity address the critics who are alarmed by her skull-crushing fighting technique.
“I’m not the first female MMA fighter who’s broken another fighter’s bones or caused a large amount of stitches or a concussion or any combination of those,” she responded. “And people will, of course, because I’m trans, hold it up as this devastating thing that couldn’t possibly happen if I weren’t trans. But there are many different examples of similar things happening.”
Addressing the controversy of trans females participating in women sports, one person tweeted: “While I genuinely feel bad for your situation being an athlete and transgender, I don’t believe transwomen can or should ever enter women’s sport, especially combat sports. The morphological differences are too great.”
Joe Rogan, former MMA commentator and popular podcast host, addressed the controversy in 2018, saying: “You’re out of your mind if you think that a man who has been a man for 30 years and has taken female hormones for two is the same [as a biological woman].”
Rogan was referring to Fox’s transition at the age of 30.
A self-proclaimed liberal, Rogan continued: “We’re built different and it’s just a fact. And anyone who tries to argue that is crazy.”
He stated that trans women shouldn’t be allowed to compete against [biological] women in MMA so “we can keep women from getting beaten up by men.”