"Based" - Riley Gaines reacts to MMA star Julian Erosa's "transition" comments at UFC Vegas 89

Riley Gaines recently reacted to Julian Erosa, a former CageSport Featherweight and Lightweight champion, calling out transgender swimmer Lia Thomas during a post-match interview at the UFC Vegas 89.

After forcing Ricardo Ramos to tap out during his match, Erosa called Lia Thomas to transition from swimming to MMA so they could face each other. He also labeled Thomas' participation in women's sports as cheating and criticized the current social state of the generation as confusing.

Erosa said:

"I don't like cheaters. ... I wanted to encourage him to transition from women's swimming into women's MMA, and then I'll transition into become a woman and beat that dude's a**."

Gaines, an advocate for women's rights, reacted to Erosa's stance and highlighted some of the key points he made.

"BASED. Julian Erosa calls out cheating men in his post-fight interview," Gaines wrote.

During the 2022 NCAA Championships, Gaines and Thomas were tied for the fifth position. However, the Tennessee native was given the sixth position eventually, while Thomas received the fifth position prize.

Since then, Gaines has consistently spoken out against the participation of men in women's sports. Along with 16 other athletes, she recently filed a lawsuit against the NCAA for violating Title IX. The lawsuit also addresses the biased treatment toward Lia Thomas.

Tennis legend Martina Navratilova heaps praises on Riley Gaines for filing lawsuit against NCAA

Riley Gaines

Riley Gaines recently appeared on the Piers Morgan Uncensored show during which she explained her decision to sue the NCAA and also spoke about how unfairly the organisation allowed transgender athletes to use the female changing rooms.

However, James Barr, a British presenter who was also part of the show, spoke out in support of the LGBTQ+ community and urged everyone to show kindness towards each other.

As a reply to this, Gaines stated in a tweet:

"Newsflash...it's not "kind" to ask a young girl to undress in front of a naked, intact man & what a spectacular display of idiocy to ask "But what about lesbians?" Lesbians are sick of being your pawn."

18-time Grand Slam champion Martina Navratilova appreciated this stance from Gaines and retweeted her post with the caption:

"Be kind my you know what… and what an insult from that (fill in blank) with his What about lesbians insult??? Well done Riley!"

Navratilova herself is a strong advocate for women's rights and maintains a firm stance against the participation of men in women's sports.