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?
- LIST OF GAY UFC FIGHTERS (OUT & PROUD MEN & WOMEN)
- UFC FIGHTER DONALD CERRONE’S ‘GAY LOVERS’ LE ADDS TO HIS HISTORY OF HOMOPHOBIC MENTS
- ARE THERE ANY GAY UFC FIGHTERS? (GAY MMA FIGHTERS ALSO)
- KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
- FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE UFC FIGHTER?
- ARE THERE ANY OPENLY GAY FIGHTERS IN THE UFC (MALE & FEMALE)?
- GAY MMA ACH AND A CHAMPN WRTLER WS TOUGHT BATTLE BY G OUT
- ANRSON SILVA SAYS THERE ARE LOTS OF HOMOSEXUALS IN MMA AND HE COULD BE GAY
- OPENLY GAY FIGHTER ‘GOLN PRCS’ BATTL STIGMA, RRI PRI FLAG AHEAD OF TLE FENSE BRAZIL
- UFC FIGHTER JEFF MOLA PUBLICLY SUPPORTS PRI MONTH, IS MISTAKEN FOR BEG GAY, AND IS OL ABOUT
- IS ULTIMATE FIGHTG GAY?
- ANRSON SILVA: THERE ARE A LOT OF GAYS MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
- JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. PRO LEAGUE TO E OUT AS GAY
- JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS
- CLARSA SHIELDS: ‘I’M NOWHERE NEAR HOMOPHOBIC’ WHILE PROTTG THE GAY ‘AGENDA’
PRI MONTH: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE MMA FIGHTERS?
* ufc 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. "'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 wanted to be known for my skills and what I’ve dited the last 11 years of my life to and not the ‘bi UFC fighter’ that I’m sure would jt be translated to ‘gay UFC fighter.
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. 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.
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. * ufc gay man *
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. 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.
UFC FIGHTER DONALD CERRONE’S ‘GAY LOVERS’ LE ADDS TO HIS HISTORY OF HOMOPHOBIC MENTS
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. * ufc gay man *
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.
ARE THERE ANY GAY UFC FIGHTERS? (GAY MMA FIGHTERS ALSO)
Are you wonrg if there are any gay UFC fighters? * ufc gay man *
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?
KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. * ufc gay man *
UFC fighter Donald Cerrone’s chaotic week leadg to UFC on ESPN 24 took a turn down the homophobic path on Wednday when speakg about his origal opponent on the event, Diego Sanchez, and Sanchez’s ntroversial traer Joshua Fabia.
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. 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.
FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE UFC FIGHTER?
Washgton Duarte beme the first openly gay man to e out durg his MMA reer Brazil. * ufc gay man *
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. 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.
ARE THERE ANY OPENLY GAY FIGHTERS IN THE UFC (MALE & FEMALE)?
The head of the Ultimate Fightg Champnship recently beme the first head of a major sports league to wele gay athlet. Thad Rsell on the mixed martial arts’ homoerotic appeal. * ufc gay man *
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.
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. 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.
GAY MMA ACH AND A CHAMPN WRTLER WS TOUGHT BATTLE BY G OUT
The UFC fighter says: "You want to be gay, be gay, ’s all right." * ufc gay man *
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.
Amazgly, 2021 Molly published a short-illtrated book lled ‘Be Te To You’, discsg her cisn to e out as gay, as well as helpg young people discs their sexualy and have self-acceptance about . Raquel Penngton was volved UFC history when she fought agast Amanda Nun at UFC 224, May 2018; beg the first UFC tle bout to feature two openly gay UFC fighters. Durg her time on the show, Penngton shared to her hoemat her g out story and what was like to be gay MMA, wh the news beg well received and posive.
Controversial to say the least, but she always ma clear throughout her reer that she was gay and didn’t re what people thought; ultimately providg a platform for others to e out.
ANRSON SILVA SAYS THERE ARE LOTS OF HOMOSEXUALS IN MMA AND HE COULD BE GAY
Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen is believed to be the first openly gay male ach major North Amerin men's sports after g out publicly an terview wh Outsports. * ufc gay man *
The first male MMA fighter to e out as gay was Shad Smh 2008, where he was also the first gay male athlete across Ameri’s biggt 5 sports (MMA beg the fifth). It’s the stereotype of gay men that they want to fight you bee of a sexual preference, rather than wantg to be the bt martial artist and ttg their skills agast an opponent. After retirement, Shad Smh received backlash as was found out that he’d appeared gay adult films before enterg to MMA, which is somethg he’d never disclosed.
It’s wily known that a Brazilian fighter actually left his hometown after gettg knocked out by Washgton, explag he was too embarrassed after losg to a gay man.
OPENLY GAY FIGHTER ‘GOLN PRCS’ BATTL STIGMA, RRI PRI FLAG AHEAD OF TLE FENSE BRAZIL
It’s gog to take an extreme amount of urage for the first gay male UFC fighter to e out bee we’ve seen the abe Jeff Mola received 2022 by merely supportg the Pri lors on his Venum shorts. Also, not only is urage preventg the first male but sexual preference and fightg are separate matters and many gay fighters see no need to mix them, pecially when there’s a high chance uld affect their reers.
Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league. For stance, Amanda Nun, a female bantamweight fighter, ma history by beg the first openly gay fighter the UFC and the first female two-divisn champn. Furthermore, Nick Rg, a fighter-nttant, was “exposed” as havg worked gay porn and produced a few films durg the 11th season of the UFC TV show on Spike’s “The Ultimate Fighter, ” or TUF.
UFC FIGHTER JEFF MOLA PUBLICLY SUPPORTS PRI MONTH, IS MISTAKEN FOR BEG GAY, AND IS OL ABOUT
However, the UFC will eventually be even more acceptg of openly gay fighters, and hopefully, soon, the athlet will only be judged on the performance they put on the le the ge, not on the basis of anythg else. While many people were spendg the holiday, New Year season wh loved on extendg goodwill to all, others were noticeably a ltle ls joyo, and stead of spreadg cheer, cid to go onle and spread some good, old-fashned homophobia last month, 30-year-old mixed martial artist and Ultimate Fightg Champnship (UFC) middleweight divisn petor Sean Strickland garnered all sorts of negative attentn on social media when he answered a theoretil qutn om a fan about whether or not he would prefer to have a gay son or a "THOT" (a slang term that is an alternative for "slut" or "whore") dghter.
IS ULTIMATE FIGHTG GAY?
"As if equatg gayns to weakns and sayg raisg a young gay child is a "failure" of manhood weren't bad enough, the awful, outdated, and nonsensil tak didn't end there! He then went on to say how he actually supports gay men and how the gays "have ma" bee they are happy and get to have sex wh their "buddi" all day while straight men have to "do some ser work to get laid. "Instead of apologizg after his tweets rightfully upset some folks onle, Strickland doubled down on the homophobia sayg his tweets were jt a "joke, " while also managg to mock pronouns and acce those offend by his statements as beg "beta mal.
1640658908\u201cSerly, three nearly nsecutive tweets, this du said:\n\n1) Beg gay is weakns \n2) It's not fair how much sex gay guys get to have\n3) I prefer beatg the sh out people to sex. 1640658908\u201cOh god, not only is he homophobic but he\u2019s transphobic AND he believ the beta and alpha male bullsh\ud83e\udd21\u201d — Dylan (@Dylan). 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.
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”. 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.
ANRSON SILVA: THERE ARE A LOT OF GAYS MIXED MARTIAL ARTS
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. Shad Smh – Not hugely succsful the ge, but was the first openly gay MMA fighter everJordan Flkner – Also not hugely succsful, but as of now, only the 2nd gay MMA fighter. Amanda Nun – Arguably the most succsful gay MMA fighter ever, fendg her tle(s) 7 timGermae RandamieJsi AguilarNa Ansaroff – Married to Amanda NunLiz Carmouche.
“I wanted to be known for my skills and what I’ve dited the last 11 years of my life to and not the ‘bi UFC fighter’ that I’m sure would be translated to ‘gay UFC fighter.
One night, after naively agreeg to meet up wh a man who offered a new experience, he lured me to a back alleyway, where I was nonted by a group of his homophobic iends.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR U.S. PRO LEAGUE TO E OUT AS GAY
Fally, after s of reprsn and experiencg livg a ntuo cycle of succs followed by extreme loss and failure, I found the urage to say out loud: ‘I’m gay. 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. 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.
JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS
“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. 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.
CLARSA SHIELDS: ‘I’M NOWHERE NEAR HOMOPHOBIC’ WHILE PROTTG THE GAY ‘AGENDA’
Spokmen for profsnal boxg, which has seen a large share of s fan base gravate toward MMA, have been quick to acce their rivals of promotg gay porn. They note the large number of gay men and straight women who have bee fans of MMA and attribute to the appeal of the nearly-naked hard bodi of the fighters and the timate, often pelvic techniqu of Brazilian Jiu-Jsu, the favored grapplg disciple the Buzski, the publisher of, a web se voted to gay sports fans and athlet that has unted NFL Network and ESPN Rad among s advertisers, lls MMA "trsilly homoerotic.
"Perhaps acknowledgg MMA's pan-sexual appeal, Dana Whe, the print of the UFC, recently beme the first head of a major sports league to wele gay athlet.
UFC heavyweight champn Brock Lnar issued what ESPN scribed as "a curse-lan outburst" agast homosexuals when a female fan rmed him that her iend "Shawn" thought he was cute. "Spokmen for profsnal boxg, which has seen a large share of s fan base gravate toward MMA, have been quick to acce their rivals of promotg gay porn. In 1978 the anthropologist Alan Duns argued a famo scholarly article (which garnered several ath threats) that Amerin football reprented a form of homosexual rual bat which "the wners femize the losers by gettg to their end zone.