Those Are Fighting Words
Don’t let Fallon Fox’s cool demeanor and slight smirk fool you. She’s not amused by the latest comments to come from Ronda Rousey’s mouth.
Both women are MMA fighters. Both women have trained hard and have worked tirelessly to get where they are. And both women have fought tooth and nail to gain respect from their male counterparts.
But while Rousey has demolished her competition inside the ring, and has been embraced by MMA fans and unofficially crowned the reigning queen of UFC, Fox has had to overcome a variety of obstacles just to be able to compete.
In 2013, Fox was outed as a transgender female. Everyone in the MMA circuit, from fans to administrators, had something to say about it. They accused Fox of having an unfair advantage because she had the muscle and bone structure of a man. However, studies have shown that female hormone treatment can deplete muscle and bone density over time. Fox has argued this point repeatedly, but it seems to keep falling on deaf ears.
After a short hiatus, Fox recently competed in a professionally sanctioned MMA fight. She won handedly and people took notice. And when Rousey was asked if she’d ever step in the ring with Fox, she responded by saying that she had done her research and believed that transgender athletes have an unfair advantage due to thicker bone structure and density.
Here’s what Fox had to say about Rousey’s comments:
First, I really wish Ronda would stop with the ridiculous bone structure arguments. That was so last year. Second, she should tell her boss to put me in that octagon over there at UFC. I’m quite sure that there are quite a few female MMA fighters who have guts to fight another skilled woman without peeing their panties and saying, “No, I wouldn’t fight her!”
I think they may be a little more mentally tough and say, “I’ll fight a trans woman, just like I’ll fight a lesbian woman or a black woman.” Etc. They may throw all kinds of backwards, bogus bone density or bone structure arguments in it to possibly save face if they loose—because they sense that people are ignorant on bones within sport. But, at least some of them are the real deal in the way of fighting. Ronda Rousey may not be right about what advantages she thinks that I have. But, at least she isn’t mentally weak!
The bottom line is that Fox is ready to step in the ring with Rousey. That much is clear. But Rousey’s hesitation is puzzling. On paper, it’s an even match. Rousey and Fox are similar in height and weight, and they are also close in reach ability. More importantly, Fox has only five wins to her credit. She also has one loss, which means that another female beat her (bone density and all).
Does Rousey not think she can beat Fox, too?
It seems the only thing stopping this fight from happening is Rousey’s ignorance.