Trans Anne will make her MMA debut against a man Photo: Winnetou Almeida
The controversy surrounding transsexuality in sport has reached MMA. After extensive discussion about the possibility of transsexuals competing with women, a national MMA event went further. Mr. Cage 34, a show that takes place on March 10th, in Manaus, announced the fight of a man, Railson Paixão, against a transsexual athlete. Anne Veriato.
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Competing jiu-jitsu against men since childhood, Anne will make her MMA debut, without fear of the difference in strength with her rival. Despite undergoing treatment to reduce the amount of male hormones, she doesn't think it's fair to face other women.
“It’s only fair that I fight men. It never crossed my mind to fight a woman, because I think it's not good. If I've hit men my entire career, I can continue hitting them despite the hormonal process. I'll only know if I'm good after hitting men. This is what makes me happy and hungry to train. I don’t think it would be fair to fight women”, said the fighter, in an interview with the North American website MMA Fighting.
Defiance in front of men is nothing new for Anne. In her jiu-jitsu career, she always faced resistance from her opponents. But, according to her, after the fighting, they always apologized.
“When I enter to compete they always think I'm in the wrong category, they ask for documents and everything. My opponents and their teams ask, 'Are you going to fight her? Okay, this will be easy.' Whenever I win they apologize. I kept competing and winning tournaments and people started respecting me,” she added.
Old controversy
The discussion about transgender people in MMA is not new. In 2013, Fallon Fox, an American trans woman, fought to compete in MMA among women in the United States. After a long wait, she got approval from the Florida Athletic Commission and had six fights as a professional, recording five wins and one loss. She hasn't fought since September 2014, when she knocked out Tamikka Brents in CCCW.
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