UFC legend Joe Rogan insisted that he doesn’t have a “problem with trans people” and backed transgender MMA star Alana McLaughlin to compete in the sport.
McLaughlin, who transitioned from male to female, made her MMA debut last September and secured a win over Celine Provost at a Combate Global event.
The 38-year-old featherweight fighter is only the second openly transgender woman to compete inside the octagon after Fallon Fox.
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Fox, who was heavily criticised by Rogan, was cageside for McLaughlin’s second-round submission victory over Provost.
According to Calf Kicker, Rogan isn’t against the idea of McLaughlin fighting in MMA so long as her opponents know she’s a transgender fighter.
However, The Joe Rogan Experience host voiced his opposition towards trans UPenn swimmer Lia Thomas after she shattered two national women’s records.
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Speaking on The Tim Dillon Show, Rogan said: “Well, the trans MMA thing was big. But it wasn’t, it wasn’t valid.
“It was people that don’t want any criticism whatsoever about trans people. And I was like, ‘Look, I don’t have a problem with trans people, right, I have a problem with someone pretending that they’re a biological woman and fighting women.’
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“Once you say you’re trans and everybody says, ‘Okay, I’ll fight her’ -- fine. I’m fine with that.
“And, in fact, MMA is one of the best places for that because you know exactly who your opponent is. Unlike like this swimmer. Was it UPenn? Is that what it is?
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“The swimmer that’s like lapping all these biological women, that’s f****d because they don’t have a choice they have to compete.”
Rogan has previously been accused of transphobia and found himself in hot water after his ruthless criticism of Fox.
“First of all, she’s not really a she. She’s a transgender, post-op person,” he said on an episode of The Joe Rogan Experience.
“The operation doesn’t shave down your bone density. It doesn’t change. You look at a man’s hands and you look at a woman’s hands and they're built different.
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“They’re just thicker, they’re stronger, your wrists are thicker, your elbows are thicker, your joints are thicker.
“Just the mechanical function of punching, a man can do it much harder than a woman can, period.”
Fox, who retired from MMA with a pro record of five wins and a single defeat, called on Spotify to “cancel” the 54-year-old American’s show after his “transphobic episodes.”
Featured Image Credit: The Tim Dillon Show/YouTube/Alana McLaughlin's Instagram