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While the issue of transgender athletes competing in sports has been a complicated debate, it becomes even more so in the case of combat sports. Because unlike most other sports, especially in MMA, you enter with the intent of causing serious physical harm to your opponent.
The chances of a transgender UFC champion in the near future look slim if the opinions of stalwarts like Joe Rogan are to be taken into account. If there was to be a champion from the contenders we know about now, it would be the following. Even if these fighters are not good enough to compete in the UFC, it's worth noting their pioneering efforts, and how they are sparking debates in combat sports.
3. Fallon Fox
Despite being widely regarded as the first transgender fighter and the one who started it all, Fallon Fox ranks at number three as she's 45 years of age. From coming out to sports journalist Cyd Ziegler as the first transgender fighter to her skull breaking victory over Tamika Brents, Fallon Fox has her fair share of controversies. With an average 5-1 record, the presently-retired Fallon Fox is no doubt a potential candidate to be the first-ever transgender UFC champion. However, it is unlikely that she could ever do so in an existing division.
2. Mack Beggs
Mack Beggs is a transgender boy who was born as a girl. The crowd booed Mack Beggs after winning his second straight Texas high school state wrestling championship in 2018. This dissatisfaction was due to a Texas rule that allowed high-school wrestlers to compete only in the gender of their birth. Mack Beggs went on to win back-to-back state titles and bring the issue to the spotlight. Since then, Beggs has enrolled in Life University, where he has been granted his life-long wish of wrestling in a men's team.
1. Anne Veriato
Anne Veriato took the MMA world by storm when she beat male fighter Railson Paixao in a strawweight bout at 21 years of age. Anne Veriato has been allegedly fond of fighting men long before she underwent a sex change operation. Talking about the prospect of competing against women, Veriato told MMA Fighting:
"It’s only fair to fight men. It never crossed my mind to fight a woman because I think I’m too good. If I beat men my entire career, I can still beat them despite the hormone process."
