Another Gender Issue

There are an awful lot of MMA fighters that I don't think very highly of, and my new least-favorite is Fallon Fox.

She's a 145 pounder, and is 38 years of age. She only started fighting last year. This is darn ancient to be starting out in any sport, let alone a combat one. You'd think I'd be rooting for her, but I'm not.

She was born with the name Boyd Burton. Back then she was a he. Boyd knew he was either transgender, or possibly gay when he was young, but still married a girl when he was 19. He promptly fathered a son who is now in his late teens. In 2006 Boyd Burton underwent surgery to alter his physical gender.

None of this is my business, and if Fallon were a private citizen I would have no opinion to express about it. I also wouldn't mind if she were a public person if her chosen career were something like acting, politics, or music. It is, however, sport.

And not just any sport. While a transgender athlete may or may not have an advantage in say, tennis. There would be no danger to the opposing participants. She actually chose to enter the world of MMA.

I don't know of anybody who advocates women and men of the same size fighting one another. In the recent season of the show The Ultimate Fighter the participants are of both genders and all in the 135 pound category. The men and women only fight within their gender, but they train side by side. As skillful and hard hitting as the women are, the men are just as talented and pack more muscle and bone.

I don't think transgender people should fight in the women's divisions, but maybe I'm wrong. The rules currently state that the transformation cannot be merely surgical, but must also be accompanied by a minimum of two years of hormone therapy. Maybe this evens things out.

I decided to watch Fallon Fox's three MMA fights if I could find them online. The first of these she won by TKO in the first round. I couldn't find video of this one, or even a write up.

In the second match, she looked awkward as her opponent outclassed her in skill. Then, 39 seconds into the match she grabbed her opponent's head with both of her hands, pushed down hard and drove up her knee. The other girl dropped like a stone. A valid technique, but a strength-based one.

In her third fight, it went almost three full rounds. The two participants seemed evenly matched overall, with the skill advantage NOT in Fallon's corner. Finally, Fallon got on top of her opponent, put her knee on the other girl's neck, and crushed. A tap-out victory, again with a strength technique. I have never seen that same crush ever applied in MMA before.

So Fallon Fox, the 38 year-old fighter with male DNA, finally got major air time this month at an event held in Coral Gables, Florida for some rinky-dink “World Title”. She would be facing Ashlee Evans-Smith, a 26 year-old fighter with a 1-0 professional record. (Evans-Smith also has an amateur record of 5-4; even less inspiring than her tiny pro record)

The betting line had Evans-Smith a 5-1 underdog.

Turns out that Ashlee Evans-Smith comes from a wrestling background and trained with a male team. She would be quite used to going all out with her wrestling teammates and most of them would have been double her size and strength. Her punching is also top notch and highly trained.

In skill, she made Fallon Fox look like a joke. Fallon's strength-based take downs were useless against Evans-Smith. While nowhere near as skilled as Evans-Smith in striking, she was clearly still able to hit much harder. This made the first round fairly even.

The second round was perfect.

Evans-Smith dominated the first minute. Fox tries to muscle her down, but can't, and Evans-Smith is beating her up. Then Evans-Smith takes Fallon to the canvas with an adroitly applied trip. Fox is on her back for a long time. At first she is unable to get up, and then unwilling. Finally she gets up and Evans-Smith blitzes her with a barrage of punches. Fallon grabs Evans-Smith in headlock, and manages to bull her over with a hip toss....which Evans-Smith turns into a re-roll and ends up on top. Evans-Smith is in total control for the remainder of the fight. Things with Evans-Smith sitting on Fallon Fox's chest landing punch after punch. The ref stops it. Everybody thinks it's a TKO, but the crowd was going so crazy that neither the fighters nor the ref could hear the timekeeper banging like a madman on the bell. The round had already ended, so the fight wasn't over.

Round three

Fox seems to have recovered, and takes Ashlee-Smith down, and then dominates in the clinch when they are back on their feet. Ashlee-Smith then takes Fallon down with a beautiful technique, and then has to avoid a heal hook. She gets on top again and pounds away at Fallon Fox's head and body. She lands about a billion unanswered strikes until the ref stops the action....again.

TKO. Both in the fight and likely to Fallon Fox's career as well.

What if a seriously skilled fighter who is male, and who isn't already an old man, changes his gender?

Should he/she be permitted to fight as a woman?