Shad Smith was the first male fighter to come out in the sport of MMA when he did in The New York Times as far back as 2008, thereby beating the four major sports (football, baseball, and basketball) to the punch.
And since then, a substantial number of UFC fighters have come out as openly gay.
Shad Smith
Who is the first openly gay female in the UFC?
For instance, Amanda Nunes, a female bantamweight fighter, made history by becoming the first openly gay fighter in the UFC and the first female two-division champion.
She also had the honor of competing in the first fight between two openly gay fighters.
On Sunday, May 13th, 2018, at Rio de Janeiro’s Jeunesse Arena, Raquel Pennington, and Amanda Nunes squared off.
The fact that the gay women were the first to headline the evening added to their long list of firsts.
Additionally, Nina Nunes, Amanda Nunes’ partner, had previously competed in the UFC women’s flyweight division.
Amanda Nunes and Nina Nunes
Who is the first openly gay male in the UFC?
The first openly gay fighter in the UFC is Marc Diakiese, who competes in the lightweight division. In the UFC.
Marc Diakiese
Furthermore, Nick Ring, a fighter-contestant, was “exposed” as having worked in gay porn and produced a few films during the 11th season of the UFC TV show on Spike’s “The Ultimate Fighter,” or TUF.
The MMA community’s internet boards were ablaze for a few weeks, and then eventually everything died down.
Despite being a fairly talented fighter in his own right, Ring was unable to make it to the UFC. Now, he competes in Canada.
It’s frequently claimed that athletes keep it secret because it’s difficult for fans to accept that an openly gay person could play sports. It makes sense that gay athletes remain closeted, as they would not like to jeopardize their careers.
However, the UFC will eventually be even more accepting of openly gay fighters, and hopefully, soon, these athletes will only be judged on the performance they put on the line in the cage, not on the basis of anything else.
