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:
- PRI MONTH: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE MMA FIGHTERS?
- UFC FIGHTER JEFF MOLA PUBLICLY SUPPORTS PRI MONTH, IS MISTAKEN FOR BEG GAY, AND IS OL ABOUT
- LIST OF GAY UFC FIGHTERS (OUT & PROUD MEN & WOMEN)
- ANRSON SILVA SAYS THERE ARE LOTS OF HOMOSEXUALS IN MMA AND HE COULD BE GAY
- TIPS FOR GAY MMA FANS
- GAY MMA FIGHTERS – IS IT A BIG DEAL?
- THE BATE: HOW GAY IS MMA?
- WRTLG’S GAY HISTORY AND OPTIMISTIC FUTURE
- GAY MMA ACH AND A CHAMPN WRTLER WS TOUGHT BATTLE BY G OUT
- TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY
- TOP 10 UNTENTNALLY GAY MOMENTS
PRI MONTH: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE MMA FIGHTERS?
* gay moments in mma *
Mola's rabow-themed shorts were ma by the UFC support of Pri MonthWhy are there no openly gay male MMA fighters? "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.
"'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 feel like [gay] men are nervo of the backlash they're gog to take, " McCann, 32, told BBC Sport.
"To be a gay man, sometim a heterosexual male might nounce that as not very mascule and they will downplay . "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. "I n pretty much guarantee if straight men knew there was a gay man [ the gym] this day and age that we're now, most of them wouldn't re.
UFC FIGHTER JEFF MOLA PUBLICLY SUPPORTS PRI MONTH, IS MISTAKEN FOR BEG GAY, AND IS OL ABOUT
Are there any gay UFC fighters? Here is a pilatn of male and female gay fighters the apex MMA promotn. * gay moments in mma *
If you spend enough time on MMA Twter then you know how disgtg fighters’ homophobia n get (lookg at you, Sean Strickland and Jake Shields). Of urse, all you have to do is go through the repli on Mola’s tweet to be remd jt how vile MMA Twter n be – pecially toward gay, lbian and transgenr people.
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.
LIST OF GAY UFC FIGHTERS (OUT & PROUD MEN & WOMEN)
It has been tertg to see mastream wrers wrtle wh whether mixed martial arts is "gay." The Daily Beast has had two somewhat-opposg lumns on the subject the past two weeks, the... * gay moments in mma *
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? He may no longer be a champn si of the octagon, but Anrson Silva is beg a champn for gay rights.
ANRSON SILVA SAYS THERE ARE LOTS OF HOMOSEXUALS IN MMA AND HE COULD BE GAY
Beg more faiar wh the gay history of wrtlg mak one realize what a different product would be today whout gay culture. * gay moments in mma *
Out of that lp, only the UFC and the NBA have had openly gay athlet durg their reers (Jason Colls the NBA and Liz Carmouche the UFC. It would shock a lot of people to learn that the UFC is a lot more acceptg of homosexualy than other more tablished sports, sce they still have the image of barbaric gefighters rather than profsnal athlet to those who are naive to the sport.
TIPS FOR GAY MMA FANS
The two major take aways om this are that if you take re of your stuff, put thgs bags, and e soap… you might be gay. An old sult that has been ed over the years to try and get a one-up over wrtlg fans is that wrtlg is a touch homoerotic. While there's absolutely nothg wrong wh homosexualy, 's sometim hard to argue that what is picted si the rg is a ltle on the man-on-man lovey-dovey si of thgs.
Basilly any move that requir placg another man's head between your legs is a ltle on the homoerotic si, but Triple H revolutnised this posn by also hookg his opponent's arms and slammg them to the mat face first, ensurg that enough downward-crotch-prsure is applied to ensure the downed foe won't answer the unt of three.
This is more on the adorable si of thgs rather than homoerotic, but neverthels, still qualifi. Alrighty, you n't s there and tell me that bendg a guy over, reachg between his legs to grab his arm, hookg the other arm and manverg him to a slam isn't a ltle b overly homoerotic and unnecsary. Mountg your opponent and proceedg to spank them and ri them around the rg like a horsey is pletely homoerotic.
GAY MMA FIGHTERS – IS IT A BIG DEAL?
Standg behd your bent over opponent and humpg while repeatedly spankg their behd isn't jt overly homoerotic, 's straight-up somethg you'd see a poor X-rated movie. There have been claims suggtg that gay athlet do not e out of the closet bee some dividuals, fans, and key stakeholrs have not fully accepted the ia of an openly gay fighter.
THE BATE: HOW GAY IS MMA?
Wh the global perspective of the LGBTQ muny gog through a drastic change, gay MMA fans are gettg more fortable their sk.
Gays are even more succsful wh datg s and apps, wh more than 28% havg found their partners onle. Determe if ’s bt for hookups and sual enunters rather than somethg lastg, or if ’s one of the gay teen datg s ma for queer teenagers, or maybe ’s a ser olr gay datg platform. When protts ll, get out there wh a picket sign and some anger and fight for your gay rights.
WRTLG’S GAY HISTORY AND OPTIMISTIC FUTURE
Wh gay MMA fighters creasgly g out, the faiary of the LGBTQ muny athletics and sports is also on the rise. Whilst there are many lbians fightg at var different weights on the roster, there is not an openly gay man who do, or has fought the UFC.
This is not jt a strange occurrence the UFC eher, we rearched across a lot of fight promotns worldwi such as Cage Warrrs, Bellator, ONE, Junglefight, and var others, yet uld not fd an openly gay all, would seem strange that there are a handful of lbians the 107 woman roster, yet no homosexuals well over 1000 male fighters – approximately a 10 tim larger sample. Part of the reason why there are no open homosexuals is likely due to the ridicule they would receive upon announcement. Homosexualy is turned to an even stranger topic when the manager of Plo Costa, Walid Ismail quoted “Asanya has homosexual stcts and he should be studied by science”.
This short sentence sums up why some fighters want to rema the closet, there is simply too much drama around beg homosexual. Strangely enough a gay assemblyman New York state pared MMA to gay pornography orr to get banned.
GAY MMA ACH AND A CHAMPN WRTLER WS TOUGHT BATTLE BY G OUT
MMA don’t have anythg to do wh beg gay, the same way don’t have anythg to do wh beg straight. Tryg to put gay people to a box when you are gay yourself is one of the lowt thgs you uld possibly do and certaly don’t help the sport. After this, the hype would eventually die down and after some time would be normal to be a gay MMA People Care About Trag MMA Wh A Gay Person?
TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY
Overall, most people who tra martial arts uld not re ls if somebody they tra wh is a homosexual. It’s likely that the people will not have a logil reason as to why they don’t want to tra wh a gay person, but is very unlikely that their mds will change. The only real way to tra wh the kds of people is to partner wh others and then gradually over time they will change their mds once realizg gays are normal people too.
TOP 10 UNTENTNALLY GAY MOMENTS
The list of gay male MMA fighters is very short, whereas the list of lbian MMA fighters is growg every.