Tag: Regional MMA

Even though she’s been fighting in the women’s featherweight division for all five fights of her young career, Fallon Fox is heading for bantamweight.

That’s 135 pounds, or “The Ronda Rousey Division”, as it’s also called by UFC fans.

But fighting Rousey—or any female UFC talent, for that matter—seems impossible due to intense amount of controversy surrounding the transgendered MMA fighter.

Moreover, the 37-year-old Fox is also too old to attempt earning her way into the UFC by trying out for Season 18 of The Ultimate Fighter, as MMA Fighting highlighted during a recent interview with Fox’s manager, Brett Atchley:

According to the UFC, you must be 35 years old or younger try out for the reality show, which will be holding tryouts for its 18th season on April 15 in Las Vegas. Fox will be turning 38 later this year.

However, Atchley said Fox’s ultimate goal is to someday fight in the UFC. “I think everybody [dreams of fighting in the UFC],” he said, “and of course she does. If her career allows it, she would do it.”

Fox also has her sights set on the all-women’s MMA promotion Invicta Fighting Championships, where she attended its latest card in Kansas City.

“That’s where she wants to end up,” Atchley told MMA Fighting. “She’s very vocal about that. It just all depends on what happens with her licensing.”

Licensing has held up Fox’s career during the last month, but the Florida State Boxing Commission formally closed their investigation against her, freeing Fox up for future bouts.

Fox, originally born male, has been faced with strong criticism for her decision to compete in MMA against women, drawing notable fire from the likes of UFC color commentator Joe Rogan and several other fighters around the sport.

Fox began her male-to-female transition in 2006 during a trip to Thailand (via ESPN), where she underwent “gender reassignment, breast augmentation and hair transplant surgeries” at the Bangkok National Hospital.

Since her transition, Fox has gained a 2-0 professional record in MMA, with a 3-0 amateur record to boot. According to MMA Fighting, her next fight is scheduled for May 24 in the Championship Fighting Alliance, where Fox will continue to compete in a tournament for the regional Florida-based promotion’s featherweight title and a $20,000 winner’s prize purse.

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The L.A. Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Transgender fighter Fallon Fox has tackled the latest obstacle in her hope to remain a competitor in the state of Florida, and she will be allowed to compete at her next scheduled bout for Championship Fighting Alliance on May 24.

On Tuesday, the Florida Boxing Commission closed the investigation into Fox’s licensing application, which means she will be able to compete in the state in future fighting events.

Fox was issued a fight license by the state in early March, but the application she submitted was under review for “alleged discrepancies.”

“Fallon Fox was issued a Florida license on March 2, 2013. Our Department had been investigating alleged discrepancies in the information provided on the application, and during that investigation Fox’s license was not suspended or frozen; it was still active. The investigation was concluded yesterday,” said Sandi Poreda, Director of Communications for the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, in a statement emailed to Bleacher Report on Wednesday.  “Currently, there is nothing that would prohibit her from being proposed on a fight card in our state. We have not received any fight cards for future fights for her at this time.”

Fox has been at the center of controversy for the last several weeks after she revealed that while born a male, she underwent extensive treatment and eventually surgery to become female. The 37-year old fighter was competing in the CFA women’s 145-pound tournament where she recently knocked out her opponent in just 39-seconds.  

On her application for a fight license, Fox had not disclosed her medical status as a transgender female. 

Upon further review, the Florida commission didn’t believe there was enough information to support further action.

“The evidence does not support prosecution of the specified violations of Chapter 548, Florida Statutes, or the rules promulgated thereunder. Therefore this case should be closed,” read a statement by Roger Maas, Assistant General Counsel to the Florida commission.

The MMA world has been buzzing ever since she revealed her transgender status with everyone from UFC commentator Joe Rogan to former Strikeforce champion Miesha Tate weighing in on the subject of whether Fox should be allowed to fight women having been born a man.

While several doctors have argued the point of Fox’s body chemistry as to whether or not she should be allowed to fight, the decision to allow her license to remain in tact ultimately came down to the Florida commission who will oversee her next scheduled fight.

That decision has now been made and Fox is cleared and her license remains valid.  Her next opponent is scheduled to be 2-1 fighter Allana Jones, who stated as of earlier this week that she would face Fox in the next round of the tournament in May.

The finals of the tournament could come into some question however as Peggy Morgan, who sits on the other side of the bracket opposite of Fox, has stated that she will not face her should the two of them be paired together in the finals of the tournament.

“I do not think there is sufficient hard evidence to show that Fallon does not have physical advantages over the women she has fought,” Morgan said in a statement via her management’s website.  “I understand why people are advocating for Fallon and I appreciate that it is important to protect her rights, but I think it should be just as important to protect the safety of the other women in the tournament. Until I am presented with conclusive evidence that a fight with Fallon would, in fact, be fair, I will not be entering the cage with her.”

The CFA tournament will continue regardless with their next event in late May and now Fox has been officially cleared to return to action for her next fight regardless of who she may or may not face if she makes it to the tournament finals.

Damon Martin is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report

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Arrangements are lining up for Fallon Fox and her next MMA bout, as she’ll reportedly face regional fighter Allanna Jones in the Championship Fighting Alliance on May 24.

MMA Fighting recently spoke with the CEO of the Florida-based promotion, Jorge De La Noval, who stated that Jones didn’t immediately take the bout:

“Everyone’s following the story on Fallon obviously because of the controversy, but, the fact Allanna is stepping up and taking it is huge,” [Noval] said.

De La Noval said he has spoken with Jones several times in the past week as she weighed her decision. He said that she was always in favor of taking the bout, but first wanted to hear the concerns of her coaches and managers.

Outed as a 37-year-old male-to-female transgendered athlete, Fox’s name has been widely circulated around the Internet during the last few weeks.

Stemming from a Sports Illustrated article from veteran MMA journalist Loretta Hunt, the controversy around Fox’s original gender is well-known both inside and outside the sport.

Some argue that Fox has natural physical advantages due to growing up male and transitioning early in her 30s, while others debate the opposite due to the various heath risks involved with her physical changes.

Due to the unusual implications of Fox’s medical history and past paperwork, her fighter’s license is currently under review by the Florida State Boxing Commission.

The FSBC is expected to make a ruling soon, although Fox will not be barred from competition unless the commission decides to intervene.

Either way, De La Noval tells MMA Fighting that any sudden legal issues with FSBC won’t dramatically affect the CFA‘s next event, as the card has plenty of other talent available besides the company’s famous/infamous transgendered fighter.

To be honest, we’re not basing our next event on that specific fight. We have such a strong fight card that if it drops, well, we know we can’t base the card on one fight. It is what it is. If she gets licensed, she will fight. And if she doesn’t, she won’t. We have a very strong card.

CFA 11 will be held at the BankUnited Center in Coral Gables, Fla., featuring a match between Strikeforce veterans Mike Kyle and Valentijn Overeem.

There will also be a continuation of CFA‘s all-women’s tournament, which will also award the winner with the company’s 145-pound women’s championship title and a $20,000 cash prize. Aside from Fox and Jones, the semifinals also include Peggy Morgan vs. Ashlee Evans-Smith.

CFA originally announced Fox vs. Jones on April 1 via Twitter, but the bout has only recently been reconfirmed in the wake of Fox’s license issues.

Notably, Allanna “Hands of Stone” Jones will be the most experienced fighter that Fallon Fox has faced so far, carrying a 2-1 professional MMA record and 6-2 amateur ledger. By contrast, Fox is undefeated at 2-0 with a single amateur victory.

McKinley Noble is an MMA conspiracy theorist. His work has appeared in NVision, PC World, Macworld, GamePro, 1UP, MMA Mania & The L.A. Times.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com