SUMMARY
- Julian Erosa issued a call-out to transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
- Erosa was willing to transition to a woman to fight Thomas in an MMA bout.
UFC fighter Julian Erosa made an unusual call-out to a person from a completely different sport. Erosa challenged swimmer Lia Thomas to change sports and join MMA and he would fight her.
Erosa took on Ricardo Gomes in the preliminary card of UFC Vegas 89 which was headlined by Rose Namajunas vs. Amanda Ribas. Erosa has been fighting in the UFC for over five years now. Before his fight at the UFC Apex, he was 28-11 in pro-MMA.
WHAT A COMEBACK FOR JUICY J 🤯@JuicyJ_Erosa gets the submission in Round 1! #UFCVegas89 pic.twitter.com/xOjXuvZarR
— UFC (@ufc) March 24, 2024
Gomes came off the blocks much stronger in the fight and caused huge trouble to Erosa. The American got taken down as well but somehow managed to end on the winning side with a guillotine choke submission. The featherweight fighter snapped his two-loss streak and finally registered a win. However, what is being talked about a lot is his post-fight interview.
Julian Erosa calls out Lia Thomas during his post-fight interview at UFC Vegas 89
For context, Lia Thomas is a transgender woman who caused huge controversy after she participated in an NCAA swimming tournament. Riley Gaines, Thomas’ competitor, has turned into an activist who is trying to remove transgender athletes from women’s sports. Seemingly, Erosa believes in Gaines’ ideology. He called out Thomas and asked her to transition to MMA while Erosa himself would transition to a woman and they would fight.
During his UFC Vegas 89 post-fight press conference, Erosa said, “I don’t like cheaters, so I wanted to call out Lia Thomas. I wanted to encourage him to transition from women’s swimming into women’s MMA, and then I’ll transition into becoming a woman and I am gonna beat that dude’s a**.”
UFC Fighter Julian Erosa invites Lia Thomas to transition from women’s swimming to woman’s MMA & then he would transition into a woman too to fight him pic.twitter.com/5sl3XCtQIu
— An0maly (@LegendaryEnergy) March 24, 2024
Throughout the interview, Erosa refused to refer to Thomas as ‘her’. He called Thomas a ‘mister’ and ‘dude’. Further, Erosa said, “But the world that we’re living in, there’s no common sense anymore, and it’s becoming a bit ridiculous… And I just don’t agree with men in women’s sports.”
It is surprising to see a UFC fighter call out someone from an entirely different sport like this. However, UFC fighter making their opinions known on controversial topics is nothing new.
Julian Erosa believes it is “unfair” for women if transgenders participate in women’s sports
While Erosa made the surprising call out, one journalist tried to stay on the topic and asked Erosa if there was ever a correct place where transgender women would be equal to women. Erosa responded, “Absolutely not.”
He explained, “I mean, 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 in that kind of sense.”
Erosa had his stance clear. He did not believe there was a space for transgender women in women’s sports. He claimed, “And I think we’re in obviously, a gray area, but these gray areas are stupid to me because it’s common sense. I’m not the smartest crayon in the box, but I could tell you, if I don’t know anything about anything, I could still tell you that’s unfair.”
About a year ago, even UFC commentator Joe Rogan shared his thoughts on Lia Thomas. The JRE host was raging against the idea of transgenders in women’s sports.