“A white privilege they/them wants women to get beat up” - UFC fighter and news editor lock horns over transgender athlete competing in women’s MMA

Transgender MMA fighters are still a relative rarity in the sport and are often regarded negatively by the MMA community. This was the case when Ricky Simón, a men's UFC fighter, took to X to respond to accusations that he had misgendered a transgender Brazilian jiu-jitsu grappler.

Simón had praised a cis-gender woman for defeating a trans-woman on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu mats. However, he did so by referring to the transgender athlete as male, prompting a former Daily Planet editor by the name of Arthur Baitson to accuse the UFC bantamweight of being transphobic and bigoted.

This drew a quick response from Simón, who in turn accused Baitson of being anti-feminist for supporting the inclusion of transgender women in women's combat sports, saying the following:

"Anti Feminist for the @DailyPlanet outs himself as a bigot. Arthur, a white privileged they/them wants women to get beat up in athletic competition by men. The Daily Planet has a long way to go if these are the views of their editors “anything science, technology and nature”."

It isn't the first time that a UFC fighter expressed their thoughts on the issue. As far as Ricky Simón's own career, he is coming off a crushing fifth-round TKO loss to bantamweight power-puncher Song Yadong. He was previously on a five-fight win streak that saw him hand the then-undefeated Jack Shore his first-ever loss.

Ricky Simón is now hoping to rebound from his loss by taking on Mario Bautista at UFC Fight Night 234 on January 13 next year.

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Fallon Fox, the most famous transgender MMA fighter

Controversy is nothing new to combat sports, especially the likes of MMA, which was only recently made legal in France, for example. However, one of its most notable controversies revolved around the topic of transgender MMA, especially in light of Fallon Fox, the first openly transgender MMA fighter.

Her bouts against cis-gender women were a source of significant controversy, with several prominent figures in the sport expressing their disapproval, including UFC color commentator Joe Rogan, former UFC women's bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, and UFC CEO Dana White.