Fallon Fox

Fallon Fox (born November 29, 1975) is an American former mixed martial artist (MMA), and the first MMA fighter who is openly transgender.

Early life Fox was born in Toledo, Ohio. She recalls struggling with her gender as early as age five or six. Fox and her daughter moved to Chicago, Illinois, and in 2006, Fox traveled to Bangkok, Thailand, to undergo feminizing gender reassignment surgery, breast augmentation, and hair transplant surgeries at a hospital in Bangkok. Controversy swelled over confusion with the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) and Florida's athletic commission over the licensing process Fox chose to complete in Coral Gables. After publications shed light on the licensing procedure and Fox's coming out many commentators brought up the issue of whether a woman who was assigned male at birth should be able to fight in women's divisions in MMA fighting. First of all, she's not really a she. She's a transgender, post-op person. The operation doesn't shave down your bone density. It doesn't change. You look at a man's hands and you look at a woman's hands and they're built different. They're just thicker, they're stronger, your wrists are thicker, your elbows are thicker, your joints are thicker. Just the mechanical function of punching, a man can do it much harder than a woman can, period.Due to controversy and the licensing procedure CFA co-founder Jorge De La Noval, who promoted Fox's fight on March 2 in Florida, postponed Fox's April 20 fight. However, De La Noval later stated his organization will not "turn our backs on her ... As long as she's licensed, she's always welcome in our promotion. We stand behind her and we give her all of our support." and referring to itself as "a friend and ally of the LGBT community", it immediately suspended Mitrione, and fined him an undisclosed amount. Mitrione's suspension was lifted after two weeks when his next fight against Brendan Schaub was announced.

Whether or not Fox possesses an advantage over cisgender female fighters was a topic on the April 2014 edition of HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel. In an interview with the New York Post, former UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey stated she would be willing to fight Fox, saying "I can knock out anyone in the world", although she believes Fox has male bone density and structure, leading to an unfair advantage. In an interview with Out, Rousey said, "I feel like if you go through puberty as a 'man' it's not something you can reverse. ... There's no undo button on that." UFC president Dana White claimed that "bone structure is different, hands are bigger, jaw is bigger, everything is bigger" and said, "I don't think someone who used to be a man and became a woman should be able to fight a woman."

During Fox's fight against Tamikka Brents on September 13, 2014, Brents suffered a concussion, an orbital bone fracture, and seven staples to the head in the 1st round. After her loss, Brents took to social media to convey her thoughts on the experience of fighting Fox: "I've fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night. I can't answer whether it's because she was born a man or not because I'm not a doctor. I can only say, I've never felt so overpowered ever in my life and I am an abnormally strong female in my own right", she stated. "Her grip was different, I could usually move around in the clinch against other females but couldn't move at all in Fox's clinch."

Eric Vilain, the director of the Institute for Society and Genetics at UCLA, worked with the Association of Boxing Commissions when they wrote their policy on transgender athletes. He stated in Time magazine: "Male to female transsexuals have significantly less muscle strength and bone density, and higher fat mass, than males", and said that, to be licensed, transgender female fighters must undergo complete "surgical anatomical changes ..., including external genitalia and gonadectomy" and subsequently a minimum of two years of hormone replacement therapy, administered by a board certified specialist. In general concurrence with peer-reviewed scientific literature, he states this to be "the current understanding of the minimum amount of time necessary to obviate male hormone gender related advantages in sports competition". Vilain reviewed Fox's medical records and said she has "clearly fulfilled all conditions".

The documentary Game Face provides an inside look into Fox's life during the beginning of her MMA controversy. In July 2022, the BBC interviewed Fox on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, but later apologized for the interview, which had been criticised for not informing listeners that Fox had taken pride in violence against supposedly transphobic competitors. A tweet from Fox in 2020 said: "For the record, I knocked two out. One woman's skull was fractured, the other not. And just so you know, I enjoyed it. See, I love smacking up TEFS [sic] in the cage who talk transphobic nonsense. It’s bliss!" In response to the BBC, Fox said: "It's part of MMA culture to talk smack about opponents. You see it all the time. Only when I do it people take issue with it."

Personal life Fox was raised Christian, but has since become an atheist.

Mixed martial arts record Win

Tamikka Brents TKO (punches) CCCW: The Undertaking

Springfield, Illinois, United States Win

Heather Bassett Submission (armbar) Xtreme Fighting Organization 50

Chicago, Illinois, United States Loss

Ashlee Evans-Smith TKO (punches) CFA 12

Coral Gables, Florida, United States Win

Allanna Jones Submission (shin choke) CFA 11: Kyle vs. Wiuff 2

Coral Gables, Florida, United States Win

Ericka Newsome KO (knee) CFA 10: McSweeney vs. Staring

Coral Gables, Florida, United States Win

Elisha Helsper TKO (injury) KOTC Wild Card

Worley, Idaho, United States Win

Rickie Gomes Submission (armbar) Rocktown Showdown 12

Rockford, Illinois, United States Awards In 2014, Fox was inducted into the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.