As part of Pri Month, BBC Sport looks at why there is a lack of openly gay male MMA fighters and what needs to change.
Contents:
- OPENLY GAY FIGHTER ‘GOLN PRCS’ BATTL STIGMA, RRI PRI FLAG AHEAD OF TLE FENSE BRAZIL
- PRI MONTH: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE MMA FIGHTERS?
- LIST OF GAY UFC FIGHTERS (OUT & PROUD MEN & WOMEN)
- THE FIGHT TO GET GAY VIO GAM
- ARE THERE ANY GAY UFC FIGHTERS? (GAY MMA FIGHTERS ALSO)
- GAYTALY: ULTIMATE GAY FIGHTER KICKS SEVEN SHAS OUT OF THE RABOW
- MMA FIGHTER: GAY OR PLAYG GAY ON TV?
- FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: GAY MALE ATHLET, HOT MMA FIGHTERSDAN YAT IS AN OUT MMA FIGHTER AND MOL
- GAY MMA FIGHTERS – IS IT A BIG DEAL?
- UFC FIGHTER DONALD CERRONE’S ‘GAY LOVERS’ LE ADDS TO HIS HISTORY OF HOMOPHOBIC MENTS
- UFC FIGHTER JEFF MOLA PUBLICLY SUPPORTS PRI MONTH, IS MISTAKEN FOR BEG GAY, AND IS OL ABOUT
OPENLY GAY FIGHTER ‘GOLN PRCS’ BATTL STIGMA, RRI PRI FLAG AHEAD OF TLE FENSE BRAZIL
Washgton Duarte beme the first openly gay man to e out durg his MMA reer Brazil. * fighter gay *
Wh over a experience MMA, Duarte said he was always known as a gay fighter his home of Amapa, cludg by UFC veteran and trag partner Tiago Trator. “Tiago said he’s never seen a gay fighter before anywhere he went, and I always sist that there are many gay men out there [ MMA], but they don’t have the urage to e out. “I thought was a joke, that he already had a trip planned or whatever, but then he nfirmed to me that he was too embarrassed to lose to a gay man.
"Until there's more people [like Mola] who are vol wantg to create a welg environment, there's gog to be barriers for LGBT athlet - pecially LGBT gay male athlet.
PRI MONTH: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE MMA FIGHTERS?
* fighter gay *
"'It's crazy how much we hi who we are'Smh (left) is creded wh beg the first man to e out profsnal MMAThe ntrast between the men's and women's divisns of the MMA is stark, wh Amanda Nun, Liz Carmouche and Molly McCann three of several openly gay female McCann, who tailed her story of g out on the BBC's LGBT Sport Podst, believ gay male fighters are held back by stereotyp. "I remember at my gym, there were guys who qutned themselv and 's like 'well whatever, if you are [gay] then you are, no problem', " said McCann. He add: “I wanted to be known for my skills and what I’ve dited the last 11 years of my life to not and not the ‘bi ufc fighter’ that I’m sure would jt be translated to ‘gay UFC fighter.
LIST OF GAY UFC FIGHTERS (OUT & PROUD MEN & WOMEN)
Are there any gay UFC fighters? Here is a pilatn of male and female gay fighters the apex MMA promotn. * fighter gay *
From male and female gay UFC fighters to enuragg closet members to reveal their inty to the world, the MMA muny embrac Pri month a spectacular welg as the MMA is to LGBTQIA+ members, at the apex MMA promotn, rervatns persist regardg the acceptabily of members to the doubt LGBTQIA+ members abound the women’s UFC; is a different realy the UFC domated by article explor the realy of the LGBTQIA+ muny the UFC and also prents the list of male and female openly gay UFC fighters. Before we lve to our list of UFC gay fighters, the recurrg qutn regardg why no gay fighter exists the male divisn of the promotn has to be fairly answered. In 2009 UFC print, Dana Whe was ptured a vio blog posted on the UFC webse which he took swiped at women and obsceny-lan vio was a rponse to a story by a longtime MMA reporter Loretta Hunt of, which he claimed rrectly reported on UFC polici and crentialg of managers and agents relatn to their vio stck the nerve of the members of the LGBTQIA+ muny, such as the Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn (GLAAD), who requted that Whe apologize.
THE FIGHT TO GET GAY VIO GAM
How Ultimate Gay Fighter end up agast the rop. * fighter gay *
Though Dana Whe apologized, this was the first major ht potg to a rocky relatnship between the UFC as well as Whe and the gay there were doubts about Whe and the promotn’s stance on gay fighters UFC, those doubts were effectively cleared Febary Whe revealed that should a UFC male fighter e out openly as gay, he would support such fighters and help wh any potential down the le, spe the reassurg words of Whe on supportg male UFC gay fighters, the UFC male divisns boast of no openly gay, however, is not a reflectn of anti-gay sentiments the fact, the UFC star Marc Diakie dubbed the Bonecsher, beme the first UFC star to appear a gay fact that no openly gay UFC star exist is not an issue unique to the MMA general, pecially male sports, do not have gay top-flight sports which generate lots of buzz and tert boast of few to zero athlet who openly intify as members of the gay muny This, th, is no issue peculiar to the UFC but to sports Complete List of Gay UFC Fighters 1. Amanda Nun The Brazilian MMA star is no stranger to the UFC or the world of mixed martial Nun is one of the most ement members of the gay muny the UFC but also bee she is credibly talented what she of May 2022, Amanda Nun currently holds the UFC Women’s Featherweight to fightg the UFC, Amanda Nun fought the Strikeforce promotns, where she effectively tablished herself as one of the tought MMA fighters the reputatn she created was tegral her short stt wh Invicta Fightg Champnships before she moved on to the UFC. Raquel Penngton is one of the lbian UFC fighters who is vol about her revealed to fans ndidly how she me out as a lbian and also nveyed her thoughts on the stggl of beg a gay athlete.
Tecia TorrPhoto: @teciatorrOne of the current gay fighters UFC who is openly lbian, Torr, is no stranger to the MMA star, who is one of the top-rated stars the UFC female strawweight divisn, began her MMA reer over a ago and has tablished herself as a ntenr for the UFC Strawweight ’s major troductn to the sport started October 2012 when she ma her promotnal but the Invicta Fightg stt at Invicta was short, as her potential ught the attentn of the UFC, who offered her a place the ele December Torr was one of the first 11 women signed to the UFC strawweight divisn and also was a st member The Ultimate Fighter realy show.
Concln There you have —the list of the openly gay fighters there are no openly gay male UFC fighters, the promotn, through s print Dana Whe has ma known how supportive they will be should any male MMA fighter tak the brave step of g the current members of the LGBTQ muny the UFC, there has been mostly no difference their reers pared to their straight Out The Intertg Articl on BiglySports:Top 20 Hottt Female UFC Fighters Of All TimeHow Much Do UFC Rg Girls Make? Seeg all the over-the-top stum and floats that make the para such a legendary event, he began to joke wh his iends about what would be like to have a fightg game—a genre long celebrated for s ridiculons and mp nature—featurg entirely gay characters. And fally, last month, he unveiled his visn to the general public: Ultimate Gay Fighter, scribed on s webse as "the world's first ever gay vio game…ever!!!!
ARE THERE ANY GAY UFC FIGHTERS? (GAY MMA FIGHTERS ALSO)
Are you wonrg if there are any gay UFC fighters? * fighter gay *
Jt last week, UGF announced that had partnered wh the pennt mobile game veloper Beard Man Studs to brg a “bigger and better Ultimate Gay Fighter very soon. Todd Harper, a postdoctoral rearcher at MIT's game lab and thor of the book The Culture of Digal Fightg Gam, told me that part of the challenge Ultimate Gay Fighter fac here is one that a lot of gam face on some level, pecially this genre. To give an example, I asked Harper how he thought a game like StarCraft uld show s players that one character or another was openly and eely gay.
GAYTALY: ULTIMATE GAY FIGHTER KICKS SEVEN SHAS OUT OF THE RABOW
Is “the world's first gay vio game” an affectnate homage to a vibrant muny or clumsy rercement… * fighter gay *
“But now that you mentn , part of me would really love to see the space mar StarCraft prancg around stiletto heels…”Toni Roc, CEO and print of the LGBT-foced vio game nventn GaymerX, don't thk that Patrick's loyalty to genre nventns is to blame here. "While Mass Effect players uld pursue lbian relatnships for the entire seri, wasn't until the third game they uld be a gay is right that there are now many posive exampl of LGBT voic vio gam.
In recent years, high-profile velopers like BWare have released blockbter gam such as Mass Effect, which lets players star their own space opera as openly gay characters who n pursue same-sex relatnships (though that didn't happen until the third game the trilogy) the right way, Dragon Age, another of Bware's gam, ntas a Brokeback Mounta-que subplot about one of s male characters abandong the player to marry a woman and honor his noble leage when he's required to assume the throne. And jt this month, Sony and veloper Nghty Dog released an expansn to 2013’s crilly acclaimed zombie epic The Last of Us which ntaed a surprisg revelatn that Ellie, a teenage girl who’s one of the two playable characters, had a brief and tragic romantic tryst wh another other words, there are enough game velopers who intify as gay, bisexual, transgenr, or queer that the fluential gamg se Polygon announced the emergence of a "queer gamg scene” last pared to other pop culture anchors like mic and film, the vio game dtry is still remarkably homogeno.
MMA FIGHTER: GAY OR PLAYG GAY ON TV?
Nick Rg, a petor on the current season of "The Ultimate Fighter" is eher openly gay or so fortable wh his sexualy that he don't re if everyone else thks he gay. After all, no... * fighter gay *
Which gets to an important qutn: if billn dollar pani are havg such a hard time welg LGBT voic, is the work of one experienced gay man the real problem here? "Maybe we shouldn’t be spendg so much time pickg on an die veloper who ma some poor choic when a mastream veloper is still makg the 40th stallment some seri that's horribly racist and vlent and misogynist, " Roc Age was one of the first AAA gam that allowed players to pursue same-sex relatnships, plete wh awkward, Enya-fueled sex scen like the one shown creative dilemma that Harper highlighted, however, shows jt how subtle and enmic this kd of stutnalized homophobia is. A recent article on the gamg webse Kill Screen, for stance, asked why there still isn’t a sgle easily intifiable “gay protagonist” mastream gam.
FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: GAY MALE ATHLET, HOT MMA FIGHTERSDAN YAT IS AN OUT MMA FIGHTER AND MOL
Among today's champns, trailblazers, fan-favor, and hot prospects are openly gay women * fighter gay *
In this article, we’ll look at the plete list of gay UFC fighters, why there aren’t any gay male UFC fighters and the plete list of openly gay male MMA fighters. Dpe this, while MMA and the UFC likely have some gay male fighters, they’re unwillg to e out as gay bee of the stigma surroundg beg gay martial arts and sports overall.
GAY MMA FIGHTERS – IS IT A BIG DEAL?
Durg the UFC on ESPN 24 media day on Wednday, Cerrone referred to former UFC fighter Diego Sanchez and Sanchez’s ach, Joshua Fabia, as ‘gay lovers’ pejoratively. * fighter gay *
There are no openly gay male UFC Fighters bee they’re sred to e out a sport where beg gay is looked down upon and feme, and where onle abe is so mon. Whe has repeatedly apologized, and 2011 Whe said about gay fighters, “I wish they’d e out”, and “If you’re an athlete the UFC and you are gay, I uld re ls.
So, spe Whe beg scere his apologi, gay male UFC fighters may look at that those remarks 2009 and have some doubt their md when they thk about g out as gay – pecially when ’s the head of the promotn sayg those thgs. The NFL and NBA prevly operated unr the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy, seeg homosexualy as a distractn om the game and keepg many gay athlet the closet.
There were ments like, “Man you support gay people, you’re gonna burn hell” – showg ’s no wonr that gay fighters are aaid to e out when a heterosexual fighter showg support for them gets this much abe.
UFC FIGHTER DONALD CERRONE’S ‘GAY LOVERS’ LE ADDS TO HIS HISTORY OF HOMOPHOBIC MENTS
Other UFC fighters have e unr scty for homophobic ments, such as Donald Cerrone, Josh Thompson, and Sean Strickland, who for the most part have gotten away wh their remarks. On the other hand, the UFC and MMA have been vol their welg of gay fighters, pecially Dana Whe who most know don’t re about people’s sexual orientatn – he’s only foced on promotg the bt fighters and the bs si of the MMA.
Dakota mataed he was heterosexual, but this unequivolly shows that the UFC wel gay male UFC fighters, and what they offer as a fighter is the only thg that matters. In 2013, former UFC fighter, Rashad Evans, me out support of gay marriage, sayg on the issue, “ ‘I’m a UFC fighter, a macho-type sport, ” he explaed. Overall, homosexualy the UFC and MMA is an extremely polarizg topic, and while there have been fighters supportg the LGBTQ muny, ’s anyone’s gus as to when there’ll be the first openly gay male UFC fighter.
UFC FIGHTER JEFF MOLA PUBLICLY SUPPORTS PRI MONTH, IS MISTAKEN FOR BEG GAY, AND IS OL ABOUT
The most high-profile gay UFC fighter is Amanda Nun, due to her domance and beg the first gay UFC champn and only the third double champn behd Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier.
Alongsi her wife, Na Nun, another former UFC fighter, they’re both seen as role mols wh the LGBTQ muny and always want to help people e out as gay and not hi who they tly are. While Jsi Andra don’t speak too much on the subject as she’s all bs, she once revealed how gay women fight harr bee they feel they’re beg judged. Liz Carmouche was the first openly gay UFC fighter when she fought the UFC’s first female bout agast the gural bantamweight champn, Ronda Roey, at UFC 157 January 2013.
Not only was Liz the first openly gay UFC fighter, but she had also long been a proud voice for the LGBTQ muny, exprsg her thoughts and challeng of beg a gay MMA athlete and former gay mare where she spent 5 years.