I have to say I am a passing fan of mixed martial arts, and not for the obvious reasons that most gay men state.
Image by Fuzzbelly
It was recently discovered that mixed martial arts fighter Dakota Cochrane, a competitor on the television series The Ultimate Fighter, used to do gay porn for boy-next-door site Sean Cody. Cochrane is straight and claims he did the gay-for-pay work for the money, a reported $80,000. Not bad.
Cochrane’s former work in the sex industry was apparently an open secret, something he told the producers of the show as well as individuals interested in representing him. Cochrane has been quoted as saying:
“It’s definitely a decision I regret. If I would have known what would happen I definitely wouldn’t have done it. But I had money issues and I needed help. I went there to do pictures, and they started throwing pretty high numbers in front of me. I didn’t really think. It was a big mistake.”
Although it’s unfortunate that Cochrane views his work in pornography as a mistake — but not as unfortunate as people maligning those who work in pornography, while they keep them busy — I think it’s a smart move for him to be open about his past work. You can’t be shamed or have something “dug up” about you when you’ve been open about it the whole time. Kudos to him.
Who knows? Maybe I will watch this season, just to see how Cochrane’s competitors deal with this news.