Transgender MMA fighter Alana McLaughlin has ruthlessly hit back at “transphobes” who shockingly claimed that she transitioned to “specifically” fight women.
The 38-year-old American made her pro MMA debut back in September against Celine Provost at a Combate Global event.
And McLaughlin emerged victorious from the featherweight clash, with the MMA star securing her win with a second-round rear-naked choke on Provost.
McLaughlin is only the second openly transgender woman to compete inside the octagon after Fallon Fox, who was cageside for Lady Feral’s Combate Global fight.
However, the South Carolina-born fighter’s controversial debut was met with fierce criticism from the likes of UFC legend Michael Bisping and ex-UFC star Jake Shields.
McLaughlin, who came out as trans at the age of 20, broke her silence after her win over Provost and claimed she had received “nasty messages calling me a cheater.”
The former US Army Special Forces soldier has now slammed her harshest critics, who have accused her of transitioning so she could fight women.
McLaughlin took to Twitter to dismiss the wild accusations and pointed to her record in the US Army Special Forces, saying she would have fought in men’s MMA in 2010 if she kept “pretending to be a man.”
The MMA featherweight fighter tweeted: “Transphobes claim I transitioned specifically to fight women because I couldn’t beat men as if my previous job wasn’t fighting a real actual war and ending human lives.
“If I had been able to keep pretending to be a man, I’d have started fighting MMA in 2010.”
In a follow-up tweet, McLaughlin pulled no punches towards the “transphobes” and claimed that having a “d**k doesn’t make someone strong.”
Lady Feral wrote to her 21.1k followers: “As if I haven’t been fighting men without the safety of gloves and referees and doctors my whole life.
“As if I haven’t been shot, stabbed, blown up, and worse. Having a d**k doesn’t make someone strong, and women, both cis and trans, are stronger than we’re given credit for.”
McLaughlin has not revealed who her next opponent will be or when she plans to return to the octagon.
The undefeated MMA fighter previously hit back at a vile troll who was spreading false information about her win over Provost and claimed she was sent a “super racist caricature.”
McLaughlin has championed the trans cause and spoken out against the likes of Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis over the ban on trans women competing in female sports in schools.
