UFC rising star “Sugar” Sean O’Malley wasn’t pleased with transgender fighter Alana McLaughlin’s win over Celine Provost earlier this month.
“I don’t think that’s OK,” O’Malley said during a recent episode of his podcast about McLaughlin’s victory — which occurred 3 minutes and 32 seconds into the second round. The bout, at the Combate Global prelims in Miami, was McLaughlin’s debut fight.
“I just don’t think that’s OK … In just competing in sports, I mean, especially mixed. It’s like she had testosterone for, who knows, 20 to 30 years of her life and now I’m a girl. You could tell that’s a dude. A jacked girl. I mean, look at those arms,” said O’Malley, who beat Kris Moutinho in a TKO win at UFC 264 in July.
Former UFC champion Michael Bisping said he “wasn’t surprised” McLaughlin won in a recent episode of his podcast.
“I’m not here to talk about transgender [rights]… no judgement there, whatever… But I do believe that if you’re a woman that is trapped in a man’s body… there are certain things that you should have to give up,” Bisping said.
“If you have the body of a man, competing against girls or women, in a sport that you’re literally using your body to beat someone unconscious, has to be one of those things that you have to sacrifice. If you want to play volleyball, soccer, be my guest. But in a sport that you beat someone into unconsciousness or submission, that shouldn’t be allowed… It’s dangerous to women… It’s unfair.”
McLaughlin, who began training in MMA a year ago, was cleared to compete against women by the Florida State Boxing Commission after her hormone levels were approved.
Following the victory, McLaughin addressed claims that she “cheated” in a post on Instagram.
“Good morning, friends, supporters and others! I’m getting a lot of variations of the same nasty messages calling me a cheater like I didn’t just get beat on for a round and a half,” the 38-year-old captioned a selfie that showed her sporting a black eye and a some facial bruises.
“Y’all need to show @cylinelagrande some respect and take your concern trolling elsewhere. She almost finished me more than once, and on scorecards she definitely won that first round. This is the only post I’ll make about this,” she continued, adding, “Transphobes are just making my block hand stronger.”
In a separate selfie post on Instagram, McLaughlin wrote, “Fear can really alter people’s perceptions of reality can’t it? I’m a 5’7″ featherweight with a women’s size 8.5 shoe y’all, not a 10-foot two-ton ogre.”
McLaughlin was born a male and began transitioning to a female in 2010, after leaving the U.S. Army Special Forces, according to Outsports.com.
Before her professional fight debut, she told the outlet that she’s following in the footsteps of Fallon Fox — the first transgender woman to fight in MMA. Fox, who retired in 2014 due to injuries with a professional record of 5-1, came out as transgender in 2013.