After two memorable bouts under Muay Thai rules, Summer Brady and Gita-Marie Figueroa are set to settle their series once and for all, this time inside an MMA cage.
Critical Combat has officially announced the trilogy matchup for June 20, 2026, in Middletown, with a co-main event slot and a newly created title on the line.
That title, the “Femme World Championship,” has been established specifically for this occasion, with the promotion positioning the contest as the first MMA world title bout between two transgender athletes. The pair will compete at super lightweight.
Their shared history dates back to March 2025, when Brady stopped Figueroa by TKO in just over a minute under Muay Thai rules. Figueroa answered in December 2025, earning a unanimous decision in the rematch to level the series at one apiece. June 20 will mark the first time the two have met under MMA rules.
Figueroa, a Florida-based trans athlete, has carved out a path in combat sports by choosing to compete against her biological gender rather than in women’s divisions. She holds an amateur MMA record of one win and one loss, both under the WCFL banner, and her bouts have drawn notable attention within the sport.
When footage of one of her contests circulated widely online, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya weighed in publicly, reportedly expressing disbelief that anyone had licensed the contest in the first place.
The conversation around transgender participation in combat sports continues to generate debate at institutional levels. The World Boxing Council has addressed the matter directly, noting: “So, a transgender woman combatant may have an unfair advantage over her cisgender woman combatant,” while also acknowledging the inverse scenario: “So, a cisgender male combatant may have an unfair advantage over his transgender male combatant.”
Medical professionals have reached similar conclusions. A recent conference of Ringside physicians determined that science has not produced a remedy for the physiological advantages that result from male puberty, with findings largely mirroring the WBC’s position: that trans women may hold an edge over biological women in competition, while trans men may face a disadvantage when competing against biological men.
Figueroa’s choice to compete in the men’s division has not shielded her from criticism.
