Patrick Côté, former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter, feels uncomfortable seeing a trans person in combat sports and believes sports commissions need to take this situation seriously or something serious could happen.
“It’s still a man versus a woman. I’m uncomfortable with this type of fight. I don’t think we’re fighting as equals. It’s a bit like a fighter using steroids and not their opponent,” he said at the mic of Benoît Dutrizac on QUB radio.
The former athlete clarified that he has no problem with transgender people, but with the situation in this type of confrontation. “We don’t have to be doctors to understand the differences in physiognomy and muscular inheritance between men and women. It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.
The latter refers, among others, to Fallen Fox, who was biologically born male and was the first openly transgender person to practice mixed martial arts. Fox also fractured his opponent’s skull a few years earlier.
“It’s a contact sport that’s difficult to watch and execute. A man’s physiognomy is made stronger than a woman’s. I think it is the responsibility of sports commissions and organizations to protect fighters. There was a great lack of that.
When asked what kind of rule can be devised to govern this type of confrontation, Mr. Côté believes that a new category for combatant safety needs to be created.
“This topic is so sensitive. You have to be careful what you say. We want to include everyone and leave no one behind. I agree, no one can judge an orientation or a thought. But in reality it remains a man against a woman. So in terms of musculature and physical strength, it’s dangerous for the other opponent,” he warned.
Mr. Côté strongly believes that failure to intervene during a fight between a biological woman and a trans woman could result in a serious incident. “It is the responsibility of sporting commissions and referees to protect the fighters. It is their first function to intervene in a fight to avoid needless hitting or someone being injured in the long term,” he concluded.