Former UFC women's bantamweight champion Miesha Tate opened up about her thoughts on men, or "transgender people," competing against women in their sports.
The veteran fighter had a near-five-year hiatus between 2016 and 2021 before returning to the octagon for a more steady schedule, averaging one fight per year since.
In a recent interview, Tate was asked about her opinion on whether or not women should be open to fighting transgender athletes.
'I just don't know if there's enough evidence, and some people will feel comfortable with the evidence. I don't.'
"I still think that there is not enough conclusive evidence to prove that it is safe for transgender people to compete against biological women," Tate told Esports Insider. "I just don't know if there's enough evidence, and some people will feel comfortable with the evidence. I don't."
On top of citing that women have to deal with menstruation and hormones when it comes to weight cutting and training, Tate said she did not think competition between men and women in MMA "can be 100% equal."
Tate then told the outlet flat out, "I don't support it."
The athlete continued and affirmed that not only does she find the idea unfair, but that sports do not need to be "inclusive."
"I do not support men, in any form, competing in female sports. I just don't think that it's fair. I don't think that it's right. And sports are not inclusive. By their nature. By the nature of sport, it's a non-inclusive thing to do," she told Esports Insider.
Tate added, "So if you're not good enough, you just don't make it, and that's a hard lesson to learn, but it's a valuable one."
Before the idea of men in women's sports was a national issue, Tate, along with other female mixed martial arts fighters, stated her outright refusal to fight a male who claimed to be female in 2013.
The fighter in question was transgender athlete Fallon Fox, who at 36 years old began dominating women's MMA, including during a 2013 bout against opponent Ericka Newsome. Fox stopped Newsome with a brutal knee to the face, which some claimed resulted in a skull fracture, while others, including Fox, rejected the notion and said he has only ever caused a broken orbital bone against a woman. A broken orbital is a more frequent injury in MMA.
Fox stopped fighting after just two years, as women increasingly spoke out against him. This included the only woman to defeat Fox, UFC veteran Ashlee Evans-Smith.
After the fight, Evans-Smith told MMA Interviews the transgender athlete "did have an advantage" and should not be fighting against women.
RELATED: 'She's never had to compete against a man': Female athletes respond to Simone Biles' pro-trans rant
In her interview with Esports Insider, Tate called "biological males competing in female sports" potentially "unsafe," especially in contact sports.
Tate noted, "Sports are not meant to include everybody. I mean, if you wanna do a sport that includes everybody, then try pickleball. That's fine."
The 38-year-old also said she was against the idea of every child deserving a trophy, stating that it teaches children they might be good at something they are not.
"If they think they're equally as good at everything, because they always get a trophy for everything they do, they may not be able to distinguish the fact that, 'Oh, I am better at this. Let me go that way.' And then they play into their natural talents."
Tate last fought in the UFC in May, losing a unanimous decision to Yana Santos.
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An NCAA gymnast launched himself into the debate about male athletes in women's sports following Olympian Simone Biles' remarks about activist Riley Gaines.
Samuel Phillips, a gymnast at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, weighed in on Biles' remarks after she called Gaines a "sore loser" for losing to a man (Lia Thomas) and "truly sick" for campaigning against the inclusion of men in women's sports.
Phillips not only piled on and threw more insults at Gaines, but he also made a bold claim about how Biles would fair in competitions against men.
'She would actually STEAL GOLDS from LOTS of the best Male floor and vault workers.'
"This whole fight between Riley and Simone is NULL & VOID because the basis of the right's attack is that she would lose medals in the men's gym category," Phillips wrote on X. "When in reality, she would actually STEAL GOLDS from LOTS of the best Male floor and vault workers. So their base is FLAWED."
Blaze News reached out to Jennifer Sey, a seven-time U.S. women's national artistic gymnast, to ask for her thoughts on how Biles would perform against men.
"I think it speaks more so to the fact that women's gymnastics has changed. It's about power not grace and flexibility," Sey replied.
RELATED: She's never had to compete against a man': Female athletes respond to Simone Biles' pro-trans rant
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The XX-XY Clothing founder told Blaze News that now that men's and women's gymnastics are less differentiated than before, men would be "much more likely to be able to compete in women's and win."
Sey added, "What Phillips states is unknowable, but he's not wrong that Simone's skill level is otherworldly. That doesn't change the fact that men are stronger and more powerful overall, and if men entered women's gymnastics, they would displace women from medals and team spots."
Following his remarks about how well Gaines would do against men, Phillips launched his own attacks at Gaines on X, as well.
"Also Null and Void because Riley G.B. is in fact an evil spirited, loser mentality, unreliable, misinformed, hateful person."
Phillips then turned off replies to his remarks, while lashing out at Republicans on X.
"Muting the replies because every Maga cult member who comments on this has Baseless Arguments so elementary and rooted in fear. Nothing to debate about. You’re just here to fight and insight [sic] violence. Goodbye."
Although Biles issued an apology to Gaines, and Phillips shared it, he did not issue an apology or retraction of his own.
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In response to Biles' apology, Gaines said that while she accepted it, she thought some of the gymnast's ideas were "nonsensical."
Gaines welcomed Biles to fight alongside her in the fight to "support fair sports."
Biles has not issued anymore public comments, and her press team has not responded to multiple requests for comment from Blaze News.
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Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles walked back her "personal" attacks against former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines for her activism to keep women's sports for women only.
Biles called Gaines "truly sick" and a "sore loser" over her advocacy and said the former college athlete should be uplifting the "trans community" and trying to make sports more "inclusive."
'I was not advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women's sports.'
The backlash against Biles was nearly limitless across the internet, including on her social media pages, which may have been the catalyst for the gymnast's latest comments.
Biles returned to her X account to follow up on her remarks four days after the fact but fell short of stating men should not be able to participate in women's sports.
"I've always believed competitive equity & inclusivity are both essential in sport. The current system doesn't adequately balance these important principles, which often leads to frustration and heated exchanges, and it didn't help for me to get personal with Riley, which I apologize for," Biles, 28, wrote.
Without directly calling out the issue of transgender athletes, Biles referred to "sensitive, complicated issues" that she does not "have the answers or solutions" for.
RELATED: 'She's never had to compete against a man': Female athletes respond to Simone Biles' pro-trans rant
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The seven-time Olympic gold medalist explained she was not "advocating for policies that compromise fairness in women's sports," but she did not say that men — or transgender women — should be barred from women's competitions, either. Instead, Biles focused on protecting children from public scrutiny, an idea she did not mention in her previous remarks from days prior.
"Individual athletes — especially kids — should never be the focus of criticism of a flawed system they have no control over," Biles continued. "I believe sports organizations have a responsibility to come up with rules supporting inclusion while maintaining fair competition. We all want a future for sport that is fair, inclusive, and respectful."
In response, Gaines said that while she accepted the apology, she thought Biles' idea of competitive equity "nonsensical."
"The boys are publicly humiliating the girls. To suggest that women and girls must be silent or ignore a boy who is PUBLICLY hurting or humiliating them is wrong," Gaines continued. "You can't have any empathy and compassion for the girls if you're ignoring when young men are harming or abusing them."
Gaines still noted she has not seen the gymnast "championing this effort" to keep men out of women's competitions but would welcome Biles in the fight to "support fair sports."
RELATED: USA Today obliterated online over bizarre claim about transgender athletes
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Biles' new comments drew plenty of reactions from athletes who have been directly impacted by men in women's sports, including those who commented on her statements from last Friday.
"Damage control time," wrote Taylor Silverman in a post on X. Silverman is a skateboarder who lost to a male in a women's competition.
"Here comes the woke mob. When you try to please everyone out of fear it makes you look worse. A swing and a miss from your PR team," she added in another post.
Paula Scanlan, who swam on the same team as infamous transgender athlete Lia (William) Thomas, replied to Biles on X: "Empathy and respect apparently involves making fun of someone for their looks. got it."
Scanlan was referring to Biles' prior comments, saying Gaines should "bully" someone her own size, which "would ironically be a male."
Overall, the predominant theme in the replies to Biles' post was that the new comments did not seem sincere, with many alleging they could have been carefully crafted by a public relations team.
For example, Fearless contributor Jason Whitlock asked, "Who wrote this? It took 48 hours to write this?"
Representatives for Biles did not respond to prior requests for comment or to an updated request regarding her latest remarks.
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Simone Biles likely thought everyone would agree with her opinion that transgender athletes should compete in women's sports, a national gymnastics champion says.
Jennifer Sey, a seven-time U.S. women's national artistic gymnastics athlete, called out gold medal winner Simone Biles after the Olympian described activist and former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines as "truly sick" for campaigning against men in women's sports. Biles said on X that Gaines should be "uplifting the trans community" and finding ways to make sports more "inclusive."
'She didn’t go to college. She probably hasn’t read much.'
Sey told Blaze News that Biles' ego is likely to blame, an attitude stemming from being the best in the world while surrounded by handlers and "yes-men."
"She's definitely an icon and definitely thinks she can do no wrong," Sey continued.
Gymnasts grow up in an environment that "demands obedience," Sey explained, which she says makes it difficult to become a person who thinks for herself and does what is right.
"You just do what your coaches tell you to do, every day, for more than a decade. Add to all of that, Biles probably barely attended school. She didn't go to college. She probably hasn't read much. She probably doesn't know much about the world. She’s a gymnast. She knows how to do that," Sey added.
RELATED: 'A lot of people say it's not happening!' A definitive list of men who have dominated women's sports
Now, as a celebrity, Biles likely did not predict such a negative response, Sey continued.
"I think she did it impetuously. Didn't think it through. Didn't expect that kind of response. She lives in a bubble, and she thought everyone would agree and cheer her on."
Biles was hit with backlash from female athletes across the board, from swimming to skateboarding, and in her own sport from Sey as well.
"She's never had to compete against a man in her sport," former NCAA swimmer Kaitlynn Wheeler told Blaze News. Wheeler swam alongside Gaines at the University of Kentucky and was forced to share a change room with male swimmer Lia (William) Thomas.
Wheeler added, "Simone Biles has never watched a male gymnast take her place on the podium. To be honest, if a male gymnast walked into her division and dominated, Simone wouldn't be clapping. She'd be calling foul — and rightly so."
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Skateboarder Taylor Silverman, who spoke out after losing to a male in a women's competition, also responded to Biles; she asked the Olympian a shocking but relevant question.
"If Larry Nassar came out as 'trans' would you want him moved to a women's prison?"
Nassar was convicted of sexual abuse of his patients as team doctor for USA Gymnastics, a story that Sey helped uncover in a 2020 documentary.
Biles has not publicly commented since her criticisms of Gaines, nor did her team respond to Blaze News' request for comment. She has recently used her X page to promote pages like "@lesbiasnism" and other gay pride messaging, but on top of resharing her post about Gaines, she referred to the swimmer as a "bully."
Biles told Gaines to "bully" someone her own size, whom she said "would ironically be a male," seemingly unaware that Gaines was listed as just 5'7" by the NCAA.
By comparison, Gaines could be considered very tall if next to Biles, who is 4'8" and could qualify as having dwarfism.
Gaines, on the other hand, responded to Biles and explained that it is not her job "or the job of any woman to figure out how to include men" in women's spaces.
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Minnesota state Rep. Leigh Finke (D) is a transgender state politician who has spoken openly about "gender-affirming care" for kids and even introduced a bill in 2023 to legislate access to surgeries and hormones for children.
Finke, who is part of the Democrat-affiliated Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, recently called sex-based categories in sports a form of discrimination. Following those comments, however, it took less than a day for the politician's ideas play out in real time in his own state.
'They're just kids who want to participate and enjoy the benefits of sports ...'
In a statement to OutKick, Finke defended the idea of boys playing in girls' sports, right down to declaring that males can be female.
"Trans girls are girls," Finke told the outlet. "They deserve the right to play sports and engage in physical wellness activities, just like every other child growing up in our beloved state. They aren't doing anything wrong; they're just kids who want to participate and enjoy the benefits of sports, just like their peers."
OutKick reported that Finke dismissed concerns about males dominating in female sports and described policies that establish sex-based categories in athletics as "discriminatory."
"[These policies] also undermine the very purpose of youth sports, which is to encourage participation and personal growth for all children," Finke claimed.
Finke's comments were published early on Wednesday morning, and it took less than 12 hours for the state representative's ideology to prove harmful for young female athletes.
RELATED: Boy who had birth certificate changed to 'female' now dominating girls' softball
OutKick's Amber Harding posted video Wednesday evening from the Minnesota state softball semifinals, where a 17-year-old male pitcher was dominating female opponents.
Charlie Rothenberger, who now goes by "Marissa," pitched a complete game and added two doubles to send Champlin Park High School to the state finals.
As Blaze News reported in May, Rothenberger is six feet tall and had his birth certificate altered just after he turned 9 years old through his mother's petition.
The child's sex was changed to "female" and his name changed from "Charlie Dean" to "Marissa."
On Friday, Harding reported from the state finals, where Rothenberger dominated even more easily. In a 6-0 victory over Bloomington Jefferson, Rothenberger pitched a complete-game shutout and gave up only three hits to win the Minnesota state championship.
Rothernberger was named to the All-Tournament Team.
RELATED: 'Get a life': Transgender athlete mocks hecklers after crushing teen girls to win state championship
Viewers were notably upset with the results; "Title IX has been overturned in Minnesota. Gender ideology supersedes women's rights," an X user, purporting to be from Minnesota, wrote.
"That boy is really good at girls' softball," a female X user said.
A woman added, "A bunch of girls that have been trained to submit to the feelings of males."
The grim reality of Rothenberg's participation flies in the face of Finke's comments to OutKick. The state representative vastly oversimplified the effects of male participation in female sports, falling back on local laws as his justification.
"These young trans athletes are playing sports they love, surrounded by their loved ones, friends, and teammates who support them, in accordance with local law," Finke said in the statement to OutKick. "They deserve support and celebration, like all of our young people."
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A transgender athlete ignored biological reality and mocked his hecklers after his second straight win at a state championship in girls' track and field.
Veronica Garcia, a boy, won the Class 2A 400-meter dash at Mount Tahoma High School in Tacoma, Washington, on Saturday, beating out female competitors as cheers and jeers rained down.
'I know I'm gonna push myself to keep going, but I don't want a man pushing me to have to go.'
As Blaze News previously reported, Garcia — a 17-year-old senior from East Valley High School — used to go by the names Davina Brown and Donovan Brown.
Garcia received a fair amount of taunting in 2024, but the backlash against the male's participation in female athletics has been much more prominent this year.
While heckling and protesting from other participants were apparent, it was the runner's response to critics that has been making headlines.
According to the Spokesman-Review, two men stared at Garcia as he took his mark for the race and then yelled, "May the best girl win," in his direction.
Garcia addressed the remarks after his victory, the paper said: "I'm just gonna say it's a ... shame they don't have anything else better to do."
The runner added, "I hope they get a life, but oh well, it just shows who they are as people," according to Spokesman-Review.
As Garcia took the podium and was announced as the state champion, two competitors were noticeably absent: Lauren Matthew, who placed second, along with her teammate Quincy Andrews, who placed fifth, the paper said.
The girls, both from West Valley High School, refused to stand on the podium — and spoke out against Garcia afterward: "I shouldn't have to push myself to the point of where I'm about to, like, die in order to win," Matthew told the Spokesman-Review. "I know I'm gonna push myself to keep going, but I don't want a man pushing me to have to go."
Andrews talked up her teammate and called her the "best woman" who should be the rightful state champion, the paper said: "She should have won state last year, and that’s taken away from her, which isn’t fair."
Former NCAA athlete and women's sports activist Riley Gaines shared a photo of Matthew on her X page and declared her the "real state champ."
Garcia gave Matthew props, saying she forced him to perform better, the Spokesman-Review said: "I honestly couldn't do this without competition; Miss Matthew, I think she really pushed me."
A handful of protesters outside the venue held signs that read "Save women's sports!" the paper said — a sentiment that has exploded in recent months.
One of the voices responsible for the rise in women refusing to participate against transgender athletes is the CEO of XX-XY Athletics, former gymnast Jennifer Sey.
Sey told Blaze News that the conversation around whether males have an advantage over females in sports should be over.
"Activists continue calling for more research to better understand if men are stronger and faster than women," Sey told Blaze News. "We don't need more research. We don't need more categories to compete in. We just need to test for sex. And athletes just need to compete in the category to which they were born."
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The alleged results of a gender test for Olympic women's boxing champion Imane Khelif indicate that the athlete possesses male chromosomes.
The Algerian won gold in women's 66kg boxing at the Paris Olympics in 2024 without losing a single round. Khelif's inclusion in the women's division sparked a forfeit, an adversarial gesture, and practically unlimited controversy over the claim that he was a man beating up women. After nearly an entire year of denial, defiance, and hate speech accusations, conclusive evidence finally may have emerged to confirm that Khelif is male.
'This violence will not be allowed in the United States for the next Olympics ...'
3 Wire Sports recently revealed a page alleged to be from a 2023 chromosomal test conducted to determine Khelif's sex. The page listed the results of the test as "abnormal" before stating that "chromosome analysis reveals Male karyotype."
The outlet firmly referred to the test results as "crystal clear" and said the results confirm that Khelif has male XY chromosomes.
Khelif and his team not only have denied that he is transgender but also openly claimed the boxer was born and raised female.
"I see myself as a girl, just like any other girl," Khelif said in March. "I was born a girl, raised as a girl, and have lived my entire life as one."
The latest confirmation is actually the fourth time a source has gone on the record to declare that Khelif is male, though. The International Boxing Association, the World Boxing Organization, and endocrinological experts all have independently determined that Khelif is a man.
Former NCAA athlete and women's activist Kaitlynn Wheeler agreed, telling Blaze News that "Imane Khelif is a male who beat up women. This violence will not be allowed in the United States for the next Olympics, and it never should have been allowed in the first place."
The report also calls attention to another 2024 Olympic boxer — Taiwanese gold medalist Yu Ting Lin.
RELATED: Second Olympic boxer who failed gender test dominates female fighter in Paris
As Blaze News reported last August, Lin won in the women's 57kg boxing division despite accusations of being a man — and having reportedly failed a gender test at the same time as Khelif.
The International Olympic Committee acknowledged in its internal system that Lin was “stripped of her bronze medal after failing to meet eligibility requirements based on the results of a biochemical test" after the 2023 World Boxing Championships.
3 Wire Sports also claimed to have seen Lin's test and confirmed the Taiwanese boxer to be male.
The test results come just days after World Boxing said Khelif would have to submit to a gender test before being allowed to compete at the world championships.
"World Boxing has written to the Algerian Boxing Federation to inform it that Imane Khelif will not be allowed to participate in the female category at the Eindhoven Box Cup or any World Boxing event until Imane Khelif undergoes sex testing," the organization said, per World Boxing News.
World Boxing introduced mandatory sex testing for its events moving forward as part of a new policy on "Sex, Age and Weight."
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Does Chicago Bears safety Jonathan Owens support trans-identifying men destroying the safety and fairness of women’s sports? It’s a question worth asking given that his wife, Olympic gymnast Simone Biles, is on a pro-tranny jihad to undermine the very athletic system that propelled her to fame. The entire controversy erupted this past weekend when Biles […]
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