She’s is the first MMA athlete in history to come out as a transgender.
A lot of controversy ensued with the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and Florida’s Athletic commission over the licensing process that allowed Fox to fight in women’s MMA. Many well known commentators and fighters have openly objected to issuing a license to Fox.
UFC commentator Joe Rogan was the first to voice his concerns immediately on the coming out of Fox. Back in a 2013 episode of The Joe Rogan show, he famously said-
How the rest of UFC perceives Fallon Fox
Joe’s concerns are based on the premise that undergoing sexual reassignment doesn’t necessarily change the natural physiology of a person. On the other hand, Outsports writer Cyd Ziegler hails Fallon Fox as the bravest athlete of all times as she “is an indelible part of LGBTQ sports history” and has " opened possibilities for transgender athletes that will be felt for generations."
Other fighters in the MMA community do not seem to share the same positivity with respect to Fallon Fox fighting in the women’s division. Fighters like Matt Mitrione and most recently UFC middleweight Paulo Costa have expressed strong concerns over Fox fighting in the women’s division.
These concerns are legitimate going by her MMA record in CFA, a Florida based promotion. In her second fight vs Tamika Brents in 2014 she TKO’ed her opponent in under two and a half minutes of the first round.
It’s not that brutal knockouts are unheard of in women’s MMA but the issue came to the limelight after Brents suffered a concussion and broke her orbital bone in the fight.
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