Israel Adesanya and Lia Thomas
Several UFC fighters have come forward to express their disapproval of Lia Thomas- a transgender athlete’s victory at NCAA
The sporting world is divided when it comes to the involvement of trans-athletes competing in regular categories.
Lia Thomas became the first known transgender person to win the highest US national college title with a victory in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. Her victory sparked a fiery debate, with several athletes suggesting that it was unfair and unjustified.
Thomas was born a male before transformation to become female in 2019. Since then, she has enjoyed a very triumphant college career, competing against cisgender women in swimming.
UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya was amongst the first to react to the controversy. He shared a clip from South Park showing a heavily robust and bearded athlete getting the better of cis gender women with the caption ‘ Life imitates art sometimes’
Several fighters were vocal about their unbiased stand and voiced their opinions on Twitter.
More MMA news
Follow our dedicated MMA page for instant MMA news and updates