"A man competing in the women's category is a cheater... and you are a gaslighting narcissist" - Riley Gaines backs MMA fighter amid receiving flak

Riley Gaines recently supported MMA fighter Ansleigh Wilk after the latter received flak for winning a Jiu-Jitsu tournament in October. The 23-year-old former NCAA swimmer called out Wilk’s critique by explaining how it was wrong for trans women fighters to compete against women fighters.

Riley Gaines has been aggressively working towards stopping transgender athletes from participating in women athletes. She believes that by making trans women athletes compete in the women’s category, sports organizations are taking away the limelight from deserving female athletes.

In October, Gaines praised female MMA athletes boycotting a Jiu-Jitsu tournament organized by the North American Grappling Association (NAGA). The mass boycott resulted from several trans women fighters competing in the women’s categories.

One of these female protestors included Ansleigh Wilk, who raised her voice against the unfair competition rules. The young MMA athlete also spoke about feeling uncomfortable and awkward about competing against a trans woman fighter.

Recently, she shared an X (formerly known as Twitter) video of her fight against trans woman, Cordelia Gregory, at the Submission Challenge in Georgia.

Sharing the incident, Wilk revealed that although she won the fight, she felt scared in the beginning to compete against a biologically male athlete. Amidst the many users who supported Ansleigh Wilk's story, a user criticized her by writing,

"How are you whining about an unfair advantage when you WON oh my god," the user wrote.

To this, Riley Gaines immediately backed Wilk and hit back at the user, replying,

“A man competing in the women's category is a cheater. And if he loses to a woman, he's a cheater who sucks at his sport. & you, sir, are a gaslighting narcissist.”

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Riley Gaines commended trans women boycott for bringing effective change in NAGA policy

The assertive boycott by female MMA athletes at the Jiu-Jitsu competitions forced NAGA to revise its policy regarding transgender participation.

On October 28, the organization made headlines for its policy change that stated only cisgender females will compete in the women's category, and transgender female athletes will compete in the men's category.

Impressed by the revised policy, Riley Gaines congratulated the boycott movement on her X (formerly known as Twitter). She wrote:

"Almost immediately following the boycott of female athletes and backlash received after allowing males to compete in the women's division, NAGA has revised its transgender policy."

She also added:

"This shows how effective a boycott is and how powerful public opinion is. More of this, ” wrote Riley Gaines in a tweet on October 28.