Veteran MMA analyst Luke Thomas has weighed in on the backlash surrounding Sophie Cunningham and the growing controversy around transgender athletes in the WNBA, stating that the reaction to the Indiana Fever star cannot be separated from the larger cultural divide over transgender issues.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Thomas stated that there is an “inherent contradiction” in how the conversation is being handled, specifically in light of the backlash Cunningham has received for publicly opposing transgender women competing in women’s sports.

“There’s an inherent contradiction though, that I think needs to be addressed a little bit,” he said. “I don’t know if you’re asking why is Sophie getting a lot of pushback? Again, partly, it’s a culture war issue. And then the other one is because of all of these rollbacks that are happening.”

Luke Thomas argued that people are increasingly viewing those comments through the lens of the wider political climate surrounding transgender people. And that’s when he mentioned the “Rogan sphere.”

The word refers to the larger media ecosystem surrounding Joe Rogan, which includes commentators and public figures who often speak about trans issues in not too flattering a light.

“People are very, very sensitive right now to what it means to be speaking out against people who are, whose ability to have a public life at all is, frankly, being under assault,” he added. “I mean, because it’s one question about, like, do you put them in sports or not? And there’s a really important debate to be had about that.

“But, like, there’s this larger climate of, like, you know, Marc Maron was talking about this related to the Rogan sphere, where all these guys make a career on, you know, going after trans folks, not just trans athletes, but trans folks. And then you get a regime that is aggressive in enforcement along these lines.”

In other words, Luke Thomas is not claiming that Cunningham’s comments are inherently an attack on transgender people. His argument is that people within and around the “Rogan sphere” have helped turn it into a larger culture war issue that it need not be, especially given the political and social pressure trans people face.

And this is where Joe Rogan comes in. The UFC commentator has become a leading figure in the debate regarding transgender athletes in the WNBA, particularly following the criticism against Sohpue Cunningham.

The UFC commentator has consistently maintained that biological sex should be relevant in women’s sports and even recently questioned why the whole issue has become so complicated.

Joe Rogan’s comments add fuel to the WNBA transgender-athlete debate

The JRE host has been even more blunt about how the WNBA should handle transgender eligibility. Instead of leaving things obscure, he’s argued that using biological criteria may make the entire issue pretty straightforward.

“So if you say anything like, trans women aren’t women, they are men who identify as women, which is fine, but there is a biological distinction that protects women in sports, and that’s chromosomes,” Joe Rogan said on his podcast. “We know XX chromosomes; you’re a woman. XY, you’re a dude. Do it that way.

“Call yourself whatever the f— you want, but if you want to play in the WNBA, you have to have XX, and, well, look, that’s the other thing… no one gives a s— if a trans man wants to try and play in the NBA. No one’s trying to stop that.”

Here, Rogan is suggesting implementing a sex-determination test before athletes can be allowed to play in the WNBA. However, a mandatory testing criterion of sorts only complicates things further, especially since there aren’t any transgender women playing in the WNBA, nor are they planning to be. As a result, it would be women in the league subjected to tests that they need not undergo.

However, the topic has gained heavy media attention following high-profile publicity stunts by former NBA players Enes Kanter Freedom, Larry Sanders, and Royce White, who declared themselves eligible for the 2027 WNBA draft under the premise of identifying as women.

As such, the UFC commentator claimed that Kanter’s move exposed a contradiction in how the WNBA handled eligibility.

“The WNBA painted themselves into the most loony position where they can’t define what a woman is,” he said on his podcast. “This thing that he’s doing where he’s pretending that he’s a woman is very smart.

“In this day and age, we almost need someone that’s a public figure to do something like that to show everyone how ridiculous it is that some psychopath can just pretend that they’re a woman and knock women over on the court.”

By now, the debate has spread beyond social media and podcasts, as Enes Kanter Freedom was ejected from Wintrust Arena a few days ago during a game after a heated confrontation between the former NBA star and Chicago Sky guard Natasha Cloud.

With Sophie Cunningham’s remarks opposing trans athletes, Joe Rogan’s persistent criticism, and Freedom’s desire to join the WNBA in 2027 all becoming part of the same discourse, the league is facing an increasingly significant question of how it wants to tackle transgender eligibility in women’s basketball.