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Piers Morgan Furious With MMA Fight Which Saw Transgender Star 'Beat Up A Woman On TV'

Piers Morgan Furious With MMA Fight Which Saw Transgender Star 'Beat Up A Woman On TV'

Morgan shared his views in a column.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

Piers Morgan has slammed transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin for fighting another woman on Friday.

McLaughlin was born a man and became the first trans fighter to compete since 2014 in victory over Celine Provost.

She used a rear-naked choke to beat Provost on the prelims of a Combate Global event.

The former US Army Special Forces solider had suitable levels of hormones in her system, but Morgan called the contest 'sick' in his Daily Mail column.

He explained: "Regardless of her military record or personal struggles growing up, none of this justifies what happened on Friday night. I found the bout sickening to watch.

"It was obvious very quickly that McLaughlin was too strong, and equally obvious that this strength came from the 33 years she spent as a biological man."

The former Good Morning Britain host continued, "As I've said before, the restrictive hormone treatment that sports authorities make transgender women do before they can compete in women's sport does not reduce muscle density or power.

"This creates a bad enough unfairness in non-contact sports like sprinting or weightlifting, but when it comes to combat sport like MMA it creates a potentially deadly disparity."

Image
PA

Morgan then said female transgender athletes being part of sports such as MMA is a 'crime' against women's sports.

Fallon Fox was the first trans woman to fight and she was in attendance in Miami.

Fox, whose controversial involvement in MMA has been slammed by the likes of UFC legend Joe Rogan, is helping McLaughlin in her fighting career.

McLaughlin paid tribute to Fox in her post-fight interview, stating: "Right now, I'm following in Fallon's footsteps. I'm just another step along the way and it's my great hope that there are more to follow behind me.

"If we want to see more trans athletes, if we want to see more opportunities for trans kids, we're going to have to work out way into those spaces and make it happen."

McLaughlin released a defiant message on her Instagram page over the weekend, calling out any 'transphobes' abusing her.

ESPN reports that the Florida State Boxing Commission approved McLaughlin to fight at Combate Global after she passed all her medicals.

Featured Image Credit: ITV & Combate Global

Topics: MMA