Male MMA fighter slammed for kissing rival Gabi Garcia ahead of fight: ‘You crossed the line’
Australian MMA fighter Craig Jones grabbed his rival Gabi Garcia’s face in order to force a kiss on her. (Craig Jones/Instagram)
Australian MMA fighter Craig Jones was told he “crossed the line” by his female rival Gabi Garcia after he grabbed her face for an apparently forced kiss ahead of their fight.
Jones is set to face the Brazilian fighter, who boasts 71 career wins in the women’s division, at his own Craig Jones Invitational this weekend.
The pair, who are both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialists, decided to fight each other in the discipline due to having similar physical statistics – despite Garcia being taller and heavier than Jones.
Ahead of their fight they met on Thursday (15 August) to size each other up.
But while the cameras were rolling, Jones made the offensive move of pulling down Garcia’s head and forcing a kiss on her lips.
The Brazilian fighter was quick to respond, pulling back in shock before saying, “You’re a b***h, man. Really?”
“F**k you, you crossed the line,” she added.
Due to Jones’ actions the fight was seemingly cancelled with the fighter taking to Instagram to say, “fight’s cancelled. I guess Brazilians can’t take a joke.”
But Garcia set the record straight, writing a post in which she shared images of the kiss and captioned, “The fight is back on”, promoting Jones to post the same.
No, Gabi Garcia isn’t trans
In the wake of the incident there was an increase in Google searches for the terms “Is Gabi Garcia trans” and “is Gabi Garcia transgender,” but the MMA star is not trans.
“Accusing” female athletes and celebrities of being transgender is also sometimes referred to as “transvestigating” and it can be very harmful.
Celebrities, political figures and professional athletes have all been “accused” of being trans with no evidence other than the conspiracy theorists’ own warped, often misogynistic, view of femininity and gender.
Most recently, Algerian Olympic boxer Imane Khelif was falsely accused of being a man by a range of high-profile figures including JK Rowling and Elon Musk. Khelif has since filed a lawsuit against them.
Garcia, a member of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, stands at 6ft 3 inches and she competes as a heavyweight, while Jones is a light heavyweight.
Gabi Garcia married Bruno Almeida in 2018. However, the pair seem to have a rocky relationship. In 2023 she publicly accused him of committing fraud, financial and physical abuse.
