Alana McLaughlin

McLaughlin grew up in West Columbia, South Carolina in a conservative family that frequently tried to make her more masculine, and in doing so, her family placed her into conversion therapy. McLaughlin was not allowed to play sports until her junior year of high school; at that point, she joined the cross-country team at her high school.[4]

During her final two years of high school, McLaughlin performed well enough to receive a scholarship to Newberry College, and she ran cross-country for two years before deciding to transfer Winthrop University.[4] McLaughlin finished her degree in fine arts in 2015 at UNC-Asheville.[4]

McLaughlin joined the U.S. Army Special Forces in 2003 at the age of 20. By 2007, she was a medical sergeant, who was deployed to Afghanistan as part of a 12-person unit. After six years of service in the military, McLaughlin decided not to re-enlist.[4] McLaughlin earned eight distinguished service medals throughout her career.[4] On her social media accounts, McLaughlin has been critical of the military.

McLaughlin had her professional fighting debut on September 10, 2021, at Combate Global against Celine Provost.[2] Fighting under the name of Lady Feral,[5] McLaughlin won the fight by with a rear-naked choke in the second round, and this gave her a professional record of 1-0-0.[1] McLaughlin trained with MMA Masters – a gym in Hialeah, Florida – prior to the bout. McLaughlin is most known for being the second openly transgender woman to fight professionally in MMA, with the first being Fallon Fox who last fought in 2014.[1]