Cain Velasquez On Fallon Fox: ‘She Shouldn’t Fight Women’
Cain Velasquez has sounded off on Fallon Fox, the transgender MMA fighter currently under licensing review, and if the decision to let Fox, who was born a man, compete against women were up to him, it wouldn’t be happening.
MMA Fighting first reported the comments made by Velasquez at a media luncheon this week in which the UFC heavyweight champ said plainly, “I don’t think she should be able to fight women.”
“Having the same bone structure and everything else as a man, I think definitely does give her an advantage,” Velasquez added.
The bone structure argument has been a cause for concern following Fox’s first-round knockout victory against Ericka Newsome. Top women’s bantamweight Miesha Tate cited it as her reason for not wanting to fight Fox earlier this month.
“If there was solid research that [proved] she’s 100 percent like a female, then I might consider it,” Tate said. “I have nothing against transgender people. You should live your life however you want. It’s about fighter safety.”
Tate then asked if hormonal changes affected bone density. “I understand she wants to be viewed as a female. I get it. That’s fine, but it’s not fine if you may have a physical advantage and may be able to really hurt someone.”
Most insiders acknowledge Fox will be allowed to compete in some capacity, but lacking medical research to assure transgender fighters crossing over into women’s MMA don’t have a special advantage, it could be a while before Fox is openly embraced by the fight community.
That hasn’t stopped her from landing her next bout in the Championship Fighting Alliance 11 featherweight tournament against Allana Jones. Fox’s manager Brett Atchley doesn’t see any “problem finding an opponent.”
“Somebody wants to be the one who beats Fallon Fox. And they’ll see it as an opportunity to make more money. If Allana Jones doesn’t fight, so what? Someone else will,” Atchley told Outsports.
(Or if she becomes too desperate for competition, there’s always Hulk Hogan.)
As for Velasquez, he agreed Fox should be allowed to compete, but suggested an option that could leave her hurting for opponents.
“Maybe have a separate [division], I guess … I don’t know. But I don’t think that’s fair,” Velasquez said. Here’s a video of Fox speaking to CNN and arguing to the contrary:
Do you think Cain Velasquez is correct in stating Fallon Fox should not be allowed to compete against women?
[Image via Wikipedia Commons]
