UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione has been suspended for a transphobic rant against Fallon Fox, another UFC fighter who underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2006, and has had two fights against women, both of which ended in first round victories.
Mitrione, who is fresh off a 19-second win over Phillip De Fries, appeared on The MMA Hour, and blasted Fox's participation in fights with women.
"He's chromosomally a man. He had a gender change, not a sex change. He's still a man. He was a man for 31 years. Thirty-one years. That's a couple years younger than I am. He's a man. Six years of taking performance de-hancing drugs, you think is going to change all that? That's ridiculous.
If that wasn't controversial enough, Mitrione was far from finished venting his feelings about Fox and her role in the UFC.
"That is a lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak. And I mean that. Because you lied on your license to beat up women. That's disgusting. You should be embarrassed yourself. And the fact that Florida licensed him because California licensed him or whoever the hell did it, it's an embarrassment to us as fighters, as a sport, and we all should protest that. The woman that's fighting him, props to you. I hope you beat his ass, and I hope he gets blackballed and never fights again, because that's disgusting and I'm appalled by that."
The 37-year-old Fox revealed that she was born a man in March, and reaction was very split in the mixed martial arts community. "This wasn't something that I wanted to come out," said Fallon. "I consider it my personal business, part of my medical history. It's not something I like to discuss with people, but I've been bracing for this for years, thinking when was the phone call going to come?" Fox said to Sports Illustrated at the time.
Fox is not at an advantage in the octagon against other women, according to Helen J. Carroll, the Director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights' Sports Project, who was quoted in the Sports Illustrated report.
"[The common thinking is] it's impossible for a transgender woman, who was born a man, to play women's sports and [have] it be fair," said Carroll, a former athlete, national championship basketball coach, and collegiate athletic director with over 40 years of sports-related experience. "The short answer is the transgender woman is a woman, and when she transitions, she takes testosterone-blocking hormones, so when she does end up competing, she has less testosterone in her system than her competitors do."
The UFC's official statement regarding Mitrione's suspension is as follows:
"The UFC was appalled by the transphobic comments made by heavyweight Matt Mitrione today in an interview on 'The MMA Hour.' The organization finds Mr. Mitrione's comments offensive and wholly unacceptable and - as a direct result of this significant breach of the UFC's code of conduct - Mr. Mitrione's UFC contract has been suspended and the incident is being investigated. The UFC is a friend and ally of the LGBT community, and expects and requires all 450 of its athletes to treat others with dignity and respect."
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