Vice blasts Joe Rogan for comments on Fallon Fox, Rogan responds to ‘biased bullsh*t’ article

Vice Sports writer Parker Marie Molloy recently published an article titled 'Heroes, Martyrs, and Myths: The Battle for the Rights of Transgender Athletes'. Among…

By: Anton Tabuena | 9 years ago
Vice blasts Joe Rogan for comments on Fallon Fox, Rogan responds to ‘biased bullsh*t’ article
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Vice Sports writer Parker Marie Molloy recently published an article titled ‘Heroes, Martyrs, and Myths: The Battle for the Rights of Transgender Athletes‘. Among the situations discussed was MMA fighter Fallon Fox, and in it, Molloy blasts a ‘washed up stand up comedian’ in Joe Rogan for his comments about Fox having unfair advantages.

Here’s a snippet from the said article:

During a 2013 episode of his podcast, comedian and MMA commentator Joe Rogan railed against recently-out trans athlete Fallon Fox, weaving back and forth between ignorance and bigotry.

“She wants to be able to fight women in MMA; I say no fucking way,” Rogan began his rant against Fox. “I say if you had a dick at one point in time, you also have all the bone structure that comes with having a dick. You have bigger hands, you have bigger shoulder joints. You’re a fucking man. That’s a man, OK? You can’t have… that’s… I don’t care if you don’t have a dick any more.”

Rogan’s attacks on the 5’7″, 144 lb. fighter continued, remaining divorced from anything even remotely resembling science, taking on the form of flat-out personal attacks and pseudo-science:

“Fight guys, yes. She has to fight guys. First of all, she’s not really a she. She’s a transgender, post-op person. The operation doesn’t shave down your bone density. It doesn’t change. You look at a man’s hands and you look at a women’s hands and they’re built different. They’re just thicker, they’re stronger, your wrists are thicker, your elbows are thicker, your joints are thicker. Just the mechanical function of punching, a man can do it much harder than a woman can, period.”

Rogan’s assertions about bone density, being “built different,” and so on have no basis in science. As Dr. Vilain and other medical professionals have stated, hormone replacement therapy has a way of adjusting bone density, muscle mass, and eroding other advantages trans athletes may have. Sadly, the world seems far more interested to hear what a washed up stand-up comedian has to say than actual medical professionals, or sports governing bodies like the IOC and NCAA that have studied these issues.

Rogan has since responded to the article:

The article linked was from our own Steph Daniels interviewing Dr. Ramona Krutzik, M.D., F.A.C.E., a leading, board certified endocrinologist who have explained possible advantages that a transgender athlete such as Fallon Fox may have over her opponents in Mixed Martial Arts. If you haven’t read the piece, Dr. Krutzik gives her expert opinion on factors such as bone density, muscle mass, and imprinting that may give Fox an advantage as she has developed as a man.

Rogan followed up with a series of tweets on the topic:

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About the author
Anton Tabuena
Anton Tabuena

Anton Tabuena is the Managing Editor for Bloody Elbow. He’s been covering MMA and combat sports since 2009, and has also fought in MMA, Muay Thai and kickboxing.

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