Mixed Martial Arts veteran Jake Shields has stirred up controversy within the transgender community with his recent social media posts.
Shields issued a challenge to the “10 toughest trans men in the world,” inviting them to compete against him without any training or rest between each bout. The statement was met with backlash, but trans athlete Mack Beggs has stepped up to accept the challenge.
Shields’ initial tweet caused outrage among members of the trans community, who felt that he was being insensitive and disrespectful.
However, the MMA veteran continued to push the issue, even accusing trans men of lacking courage by not accepting his challenge.
This led to Mack Beggs, a wrestler and athlete, to make an official callout to Shields, agreeing to face him one-on-one instead of the ten-versus-one scenario Shields had suggested.
Beggs was firm in his video response, stating that it was disrespectful to the sport of MMA to challenge ten trans men at once and that Shields needed to “do it right.” He even ended his callout with a blunt statement: “I’m specifically going to f**k you up Jake Shields.”
For those who are new to the combat sports scene, Beggs made waves some years back due to the fact he had to compete in the women’s wrestling division despite undergoing HRT.
The silver lining in his story was the fact he in fact wanted to not be competing against women while on testosterone replacement therapy. However once those dreams were dashed he was very unapologetic and ended up winning state championships.
Beggs’ mom went the extra mile at the time, insisting that authorities take a look at some of the girls Beggs was competing against if they question why Mack Beggs was allowed to compete on HRT.
Shields has also faced criticism for his views on trans issues and is currently staring down a 7 day suspension after he went a little overboard in his crusade.
Beggs isn’t the first person to have answered Shields call. Previously Alana McLaughlin (who made waves during 2021 MMA debut) offered to take on Shields.
