In a time when women are standing up for their rights and the LGBT community are starting to get recognized, this fight between transgender woman Anne Veriato, versus male opponent Railson Paixao is a move that can cement the recognition of transgender fighters in the MMA.
Early Start in Jiu Jitsu
The 21-year old transgender woman is a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu. She’s been training and competing since the young age of seven years old. After competing for many years, she felt that she needed to do something different. Seeing that many of the fighters in her team were competing in the MMA, it was something she wanted to do as well.
Her transformation started years after training in martial arts. She was away from the gym for several months. By the time she came back, nobody was able to recognize her.
On Fighting Against Men
Even as a transgender, it never occurred to Veriato to fight against women. In fact, her first fights in Jiu Jitsu as a transgender were against men where she also was able to win countless medals. While it was unnerving for her opponents to think they were fighting against a woman, by the time the competition ended, their views about Veriato started to change. They started to give her respect as a fighter.
Veriato met Samir Nadaf, the promotor of Mr. Cage, at one of her tournaments. Veriato’s coach, Andre McComb asked Samir for an opportunity for Veriato to sign a contract as a fighter and even told him about her story. Nadaf was sold on the idea but only if Veriato were to compete in Mr. Cage. According to an interview, Nadaf stated that he believes men should fight men. For him, if one was born a man, then he or she will have to fight a man. To his surprise, Veriato completely agreed with him.
In a statement given by Veriato, it never occurred to him to fight a woman because she feels she’s too good. She’s beaten men her whole career and that it would be unfair to fight against women.
Not the Only Transgender Fighter
Veriato’s stance on not fighting against women is the complete opposite of another transgender woman, Fallon Fox. Back in 2013, Fox was the first transgender fighter to compete in professional MMA against female opponents. At the time, this came with a lot of drawbacks and a lot of criticism. She hasn’t competed in professional mixed martial arts since 2014 but her name still grabs headlines. The most recent one in January when Paulo Costa offered to fight Fallon Fox for free. According to Costa, it was unfair for Fox to fight against women as if she was born one. He has also stated that many of the women she’s competed against has been annihilated by Fox. Her current record stands at 5-1 with all wins by stoppage.
Anne Veriato’s debut in the Mr. Cage promotions in Brazil is a game changer for many transgender fighters and the transgender community. If Veriato could gain the respect of male fighters outside professional mixed martial arts, she could also gain their respect as a professional fighter.