Trans MMA star Alana McLaughlin made headlines last year when she made her professional debut in MMA against a biological female – Celine Provost.
For possibly the first time in MMA history, a woman took on a trans woman while being aware of her biological status. Despite Provost’s willingness to test herself many prominent MMA stars condemned the event.
It would later come out that Combate Global was looking for some free publicity and went on to contact trans MMA veteran Fallon Fox in 2021.
Fox is retired due to having undergone a knee reconstruction but instead pointed the Combate Global execs to McLaughlin.
McLaughlin confirmed all this on the FSPND podcast.
McLaughlin was interviewed for this week’s Trans Sporter Room episode when she confirmed that there was a documentary in the works, as well as the fact that Combate Global financed her MMA camp in lead up to Provost clash.
They pulled a highly unorthodox stunt and financed her camp in preparation for her debut. Combate Global also filed a number of copyright notices on youtube against channels that were portraying McLaughlin’s debut in an unfavorable way including More Plates More Dates which had a fair use analysis of McLaughlin’s physical advantages.
Now McLaughlin needs to finance her camp once again it seems. A gofundme campaign has sprung up. It’s hoping to raise $10,000 in order to help McLaughlin temporarily relocate to Chicaho where she can train with a trans friendly team.
As per her page, Alana is seeking donations to cover travel, coaching, living expenses, and pet care.
Alana is part of a great team in Chicago for MMA training. Finding a welcoming place to train can be challenging for the second openly trans pro.
Any excess funds will go towards youth scholarships for martial arts training at Foundation Chicago gym.
Alana will provide regular updates with blogs, photos, and videos during training.
She’s raised $1000, out of the $10,000 in just a day.