"Fairness and safety more important" - UFC champion says trans athletes competing against women "unfair"

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Carla Esparza after her title win at UFC 274 [Image courtesy: scmp.com]

The issue of transgender athletes and their inclusivity is a topic of debate across the sporting world. UFC women's strawweight champion Carla Esparza recently weighed in on the same.

Esparza spoke to Tulsi Gabbard on Fox News' Tucker Carlson Tonight segment and said:

"I want to preface by saying that I do support people's right to be who they want to be and I think inclusion is important. But with that being said, I think fairness and safety in sport is more important. Just as we don't allow performance enhancement drugs because it gives people an unfair advantage to inflict damage on their opponent, I believe that [transgender fighters] coming into our sport with a physiological advantage does the same."

'Cookie Monster' further expanded on her point by demanding that young girls not lose out on anything due to the inclusion of a transgender athlete:

"I believe when it comes to safety, we need to have science prove beyond a reasonable doubt that there is no advantage. Because we are in the danger business, we're in the fight business and we can get hurt out there. So you know, taking away opportunities from girls such as scholarships, paydays, positions, and victories is just unfair and until the science can prove that it is fair, I don't think they should have trans athletes in female sports."

Check out the UFC champion's complete segment on Fox News:

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UFC president Dana White dodged a question on the inclusion of transgender athletes

Earlier this year, Dana White appeared on the IMPAULSIVE podcast with Logan Paul. In it, he was asked if he would ever let a transgender athlete who identified as a woman fight in any of the women's divisions. White responded:

"It happened in our sport. There was a fighter named Fallon Fox, who was a male fighter who became a woman. And he was out there beating the s**t out of women, you know, left and right. And then finally, he ran into the wrong woman and she beat his a**."

Logan Paul did correct him on his pronoun usage, to which he only curtly replied with an affirmation.

Check out this segment from IMPAULSIVE:

The UFC president cleverly dodged the question by narrating about Fox, who never fought in the UFC. Rather, Fox has only fought six professional bouts in various other promotions, all against women.

Her last opponent, Tamikka Brents, explicitly stated after her loss that it was not a normal fighting experience for her. The two fought at CCCW: The Undertaking in 2014 and Brents remarked after the fight:

"I've fought a lot of women and have never felt the strength that I felt in a fight as I did that night."

Brents' remarks give credence to Carla Esparza's concerns about the disparity in physicalities that transgender inclusion will bring to women's sports.

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