The first openly transgender MMA fighter, Fallon Fox, was central to the ongoing debate about transgender athletes in competitive sports. She had a short career in MMA. This is an overview of her story and an overview of a trans athlete in sports. Fallon Fox competed in the professional MMA from 2012 to 2014, facing a major backlash after coming out as a transgender person during that time.
Transgender MMA fighter
Critics argued that Fox, a transgender MMA fighter, retained physical benefits from male adolescents despite undergoing surgery several years before gender-preserving hormone therapy and competition. Despite meeting all medical and regulatory requirements of transgender athletes, including years of hormone therapy and surgical procedures, Fox faced unrelenting criticism of perceived physical benefits.
Fallon Fox
The controversy over Fallon Fox, a transgender MMA fighter, has extended beyond her fight. Notable figures such as Joe Rogan have criticized women’s involvement in MMA. Fox rebutted these claims by pointing out that bone density differs significantly between cisgender men and women, arguing that such factors are rarely scrutinized outside of discussions about trans athletes.
“Male to female transgenders have significantly less strength and bone density and more fat than men,” Dr. Eric Billane – Fallon Fox’s UCLA Transgender MMA Fighter
Fallon Fox breaks the skull
Fallon Fox has long been the subject of misinformation surrounding her MMA career, particularly regarding the allegations that she “smashed two skulls” during her fight. This story, often repeated by anti-trance supporters, misrepresents the facts of her match. In fact, the transgender MMA fighter Fallon Fox fractured the orbital bone of one enemy, Tamicka Brenz, during the battle in 2014. Despite this distinction, critics exaggerate the injury as a “fractured skull” to portray Fox as a unique danger due to his transgender status.
Tamicka Brenz later fought multiple matches, but Fox retired due to injuries. Fallon Fox retired from the professional MMA in 2014 after being injured during her career. Overall, Fox was not a huge success.
“Fox retired from MMA in 2014 and has been ineffectived with complete knee replacement and osteoarthritis on other knees. “Even if I wanted to do that, I couldn’t go back to the fight,” she said.“Reuters
Transgender Olympic athlete
Transgender athletes are eligible to participate in the Olympics since 2004 under guidelines set by the International Olympic Committee. These rules required gender reassignment surgery and two years of hormone therapy. Transgender athletes were limited on the Olympic stage, just as transgender MMA fighters had little success.
Over the past 20 years, the Olympics have welcomed tens of thousands of athletes, but transgender representation remains minimal. Overall, there are around 10,000 athletes per Olympics. Since allowing trans athletes at the 2004 Olympics, around 110,000 athletes have competed, of which 12 were trans. Transgender athletes remain a very small subset.
The effect of hormone therapy on performance
Gender-main therapy significantly changes physical ability. For trans women (from male to female), testosterone suppression reduces muscle mass, strength and endurance over time. Research shows that trans women may initially retain some benefits, such as faster running times and greater upper body strength, but these are reduced with long-term hormone therapy received by transgender MMA fighter Fox. After two years of treatment, performance metrics often align more closely with cisgender female indicators.
Transgender athlete
Despite the widespread media attention, the number of trans athletes competing at all levels remains very small. The Fallon Fox is the only transgender MMA fighter jet in the history of sports, dating back to 1993. For example, fewer than 10 transgender university athletes were reported in 2024 out of more than 500,000 NCAA participants. Moreover, trans athletes have not achieved overall disproportionate success. Their effects remain minimal.
Hormonal therapy reduces physical benefits over time, but studies have shown that debate continues as to whether differences in residual produce heterogeneous arenas. Importantly, the data shows that trans athletes dominate elite competitions in most sports or fundamentally change outcomes.
Protecting women
Protecting women in sports is a key issue that requires partnership with supporters like Vinesh Phogat, who bravely confront systemic injustice related to sexual assault. Her protests against sexual harassment within the Indian wrestling federation exposed the widespread misogyny and abuse facing female athletes. Phogat launched a nationwide protest and brought the assailant to court. Her case was important to protect women in sports, but had nothing to do with trans athletes. Media stories are more interested in attacking trans athletes, or perceived trans athletes, rather than standing up when women point out that they need help.
One of the most infamous cases is a US gymnastics sexual abuse scandal that includes Larry Nasser, a former team doctor who abused over 500 women and girls under the guise of medical care. Nassar’s crimes lasted decades. The investigation revealed systemic negligence, including mistreating the FBI’s credible allegations, allowing Nasser to continue to abuse athletes for years. Survivors like Simone Biles, Ally Riceman and Rachel Denhollander spoke.
Protecting women in sports requires addressing these systematic failures rather than focusing on scapegoats like trans athletes. Overwhelming evidence shows that sexual abuse is driven by established force structures.