Julian Erosa had some choice words for men who compete in women’s sports — namely, Lia Thomas.
After his first-round submission win over Ricardo Ramos at UFC Vegas 89 on Saturday night, Erosa spoke to reporters about the unfair advantages of males who compete against females. And he specifically challenged Thomas.
“I don’t like cheaters,” Erosa said. “I wanted to encourage him to transition from women’s swimming into women’s MMA, and then I’ll transition into a woman and beat that dude’s ass.”
He continued: “The world that we’re living in, there’s no common sense anymore.”
Thomas, of course, is the transgender swimmer who won gold in the 500-yard women’s freestyle in the 2022 NCAA Championships and tied with Riley Gaines in the 200. Now, Thomas is now challenging a World Aquatics policy that bans trans athletes from women’s events if they underwent male puberty.
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But, as Erosa explains, that ban is in place for a reason.
“If you went through male puberty… there’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing you can give yourself to shrink your bones down. There’s nothing you can do,” Erosa said.
“The proof’s in the pudding, right? Like you have, you know, Mr. Thomas… Whatever he was ranked as a man, and he’s just beating all the women. It’s obvious. It doesn’t matter how much estrogen you’re taking.”
One reporter pointed out that martial arts (such as mixed martial arts) are different from non-contact sports (such as swimming). She asked the 34-year-old fighter if there were times when it was okay for a man to compete against a woman. Elosa said no.
“I'm not the smartest crayon in this box…but I can tell you it's not fair, even if I didn't know anything,” he said. “You know, it's so funny to me that women fight for their own space, but trans women also fight to be included in that space. And by the same token, they're just men. is.
“When are these sports going to have hundreds of men participating in them and then become just another men’s sport?”
Great question, Julian. Let's hope we have enough smart crayons in the box to avoid that.
