Transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin reacts to Sean Strickland vs. Dricus du Plessis - "Toddlers in a mosh pit"

Transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin was not impressed by Sean Strickland and Dricus du Plessis’ striking in the UFC 297 main event.

Strickland attempted the first defense of his UFC middleweight title at the pay-per-view event. Du Plessis won the fight via split decision to become the 185-pound champion after five rounds of back-and-forth action.

Strickland started strong as he seemed to be winning the early rounds with effective distance management and striking. However, ‘Stillknocks’ made a solid comeback in the later rounds, battering his opponent in the process.

Both men had their moments in the closely contested four rounds. With the fighters perhaps realizing that victory depended on the final stanza, they threw caution to the wind and attacked each other with winging shots to cause maximum damage.

However, McLaughlin criticized their striking technique in a recent post on her X account. She attached a GIF image of children throwing wild punches to put her claim in perspective, writing:

“Final 30 seconds of Strickland vs. Du Plessis had all the technical skill of toddlers in a mosh pit.”

McLaughlin is a former US Army Special Forces veteran. She left the service in 2010 and started the transition to female shortly after. The 40-year-old made her professional MMA debut against Celine Provost in September 2021, assuming the ring name 'Lady Feral'. She won the fight via second-round submission due to a rear-naked choke.

McLaughlin has not competed professionally since her debut. However, she is the second openly transgender female fighter in MMA history after Fallon Fox. Unlike ‘Lady Feral’, Fox has competed several times and holds a 5-1 professional MMA record. She has not competed in MMA since 2014.

Both women’s participation in women’s MMA stirred a massive controversy as many argued that natal males have significant physical advantages over female fighters, even if they undergo gender reassignment procedures.