2nd openly gay male fighter fights tonight

Emile Griffith and Benny ‘Kid’ Paret fought three times in the early 60s. The first time, Griffith took Paret’s welterweight world champion boxing title. In the second fight, Paret took it back.

At the weigh ins for the second fight, the Cuban-born Paret slapped Griffith with a limp wrirst, and called him “Maricon” the Spanish street slang equivalent of “faggot.” Griffith vowed that if Paret ever taunted him again in that manner, they would fight right there.

At the weigh ins for the third and final fight, Paret did it again. And that night, Griffith beat him to death in the ring.

The times were far more bigoted than they were today, and Griffith was forced to lead a closeted existence. We now live in better, less bigoted age, where it is taunting about sexual preference that is shameful, not the sexual preference itself.

“If there was a gay fighter in UFC, I wish he would come out,” said UFC President Dana White in 2011. “I could care less if there’s a gay fighter in the UFC. There probably is and there’s probably more than one.”

However, while there are a number of prominent, and proudly open lesbian fighters, male fighters have tended to be more circumspect. The first male fighter fighter to come out was Shad Smith; he deserves praise for a social bravery. When Dakota Chochrane revealed that he had appeared in gay porn, there was a widespread assumption that he was a gay man. However, Chochrane was what is referred to casually as “gay for pay.” He is in fact straight, and has a wife and children.

Now another fighter is openly and admirably discussing his sexual orientation. That has been so rare that Massachusetts’ Jordan Faulkner thought he was the first. The fighter has learn the hard way that fighting in a cage takes courage, and it takes a lot more courage to live life with honesty and integrity.

Faulkner had what he described as a challenging childhood, attending high school in three states, and stuggling with temper issues. He now attends Chadron State? in Nebraska on a full scholarship, majoring in exercise science and kinesiology. And he honorably makes no secret of who and what he is.

I am gay,” said the Haverhill High School wrestling star to Lynne Snierson for the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning Eagle Tribune.

“I have been open about it since I was 16 years old. It’s horrible to be closeted and have to live a lie to keep up with an image.

“I’ve never been one to fake it. I don’t want to lie to anyone. All of my teammates know and my coaches know. I’ve never been one to keep it a secret. It would be disrespectful to my boyfriend, and it would be disrespectful to my all of teammates and my coaches not to know the true me and who I am.”

“I grew up poor and saw the other kids in high school having all the things that I didn’t. I felt I deserved more respect for the talents I had because I’d see people go to the hockey games and only make it as far as the first round of the playoffs, and our wrestling team was ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 1 in New England, but we never got the respect for it.

“There was also a lot of personal things going on in high school. I felt left out. I felt like a reject. So the anger erupted. People would know that I was a jock and think, ‘Oh man, he has it made.’ But it wasn’t like that. No matter how good you are at a sport, you still have your personal demons.”

I’ve seen people in my family battle drugs. I’ve had family members pass away. My best friend, Travis Yell, was one of my mentors. And he died [after being stuck by a car in 2014; a police investigation contines]. He was a wrestler from Haverhill …. I’ve asked, ‘Why have I had this rough path? Why have I had this tough life? Why can’t things just be smooth?’ There were no answers and that angered me.”

“In high school, I had the talent and the work ethic and the only thing that stopped me was my emotion. I’ve been able to control my emotions a lot better as I’ve gotten older. Where I am in a small town in Nebraska is 5,000 feet in the air, so it’s good for me training-wise, but it’s also good for me to get away from home and the faster style of living and that helps me focus on my training.”

Starting out, it was very tough. It was the reason I left my wrestling team my junior year when I was at Glasgow High School in Newark, Delaware, which has become one of the more dangerous areas in the state. People have very different views about homosexuals there. I was bullied a lot and even my own teammates made fun of me and the coaches weren’t helpful. I made the decision to leave the team and found a wrestling club nearby where I was accepted.”

While mixed martial arts is rife tattoos, shaved heads, and other macho trappings, Faulkner has found that his sexual preference is a non issue.

In this sport and in all combat sports, you can only imagine what you could go through when your opponent is allowed to throw punches and kicks and really slam someone,” he said. “If there was someone who was bigoted against homosexuals, they could take that out on someone and really punish them physically.

“Fighting in MMA and being openly gay hasn’t presented a problem. I think the only way it would is if I were to do something to make them uncomfortable and made it an issue. I think because of my personality and the work ethic I have that people are able to forget about that and they are able to overlook it.

I do have people come up to me and tell me that I inspire them and have helped them overcome this type of pressure. They say I help them to be who they are and not be afraid anymore.”

However, Faulkner doesn’t want to be know as the “gay fighter” he wants to be known as a tough guy.

He is.

“I’ve been through quite a journey,” he said. “None of it’s been easy and it’s still rocky. “I’m still trying to overcome a lot of obstacles and a lot of peaks and valleys while trying to find my clear path to the top. Do I think it will be a clear path? I don’t. But I think the tough road I’ve been traveling has built me. It’s toughened me up and made me who I am.

Jordan Faulkner vs. John McAndrews? at Combat Zone 58 on May 13 in Rockingham Park, Salem, New Hampshire. ?Faulkner will be representing?Spero’s MMA in Plaistow, New Hampshire.

Faulkner is thus far undefeated, at 2-0.

vs. Kristian Lombari