On September 10, transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin won her MMA debut against Celine Provost. She won in the second round by submitting Provost by a rear naked choke, although it wasn’t an easy fight for the novice.
Alana Mclaughlin (pink hair), the second transgender fighter wins MMA debut.
How do you guys feel about this? #ufc pic.twitter.com/HH1TgVDGwW
— Weasle (@ThaWeasle) September 11, 2021
McLaughlin, in her past, was a male enlisted in the US military in 2003. She put on muscle, rose up the Army ranks and became a special forces medical sergeant, part of an elite, 12-man team dispatched to Afghanistan in 2007. She left the service in 2010, and was diagnosed with PTSD.
Today, the 38-year-old McLaughlin is the first transgender athlete to openly participate in a mixed martial arts competition since Fallon Fox entered the mixed martial arts arena in 2014. She underwent a ‘sex reassignment surgery’ in 2016 and has passed all medical requirements, including hormone ratings, before making her MMA debut.
After she received, in her words, “a lot of variations of the same nasty messages”, she decided to react on her social media:
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. Y’all need to show Céline Provost 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. Transphobes are just making my block hand stronger.
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. Y’all need to show Céline Provost some respect and take your concern trolling elsewhere. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/GFhk55YeJm
— Alana McLaughlin🏳️⚧️ (@AlanaFeral) September 11, 2021
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