The worlds of professional sex work and professional fighting sometimes intersect in surprising ways. Many fighters have dated or married adult film stars, while others have made appearances in pornographic videos, either by choice or unknowingly.
Relationships with Adult Film Stars
There are many fighters who date or married porn stars, perhaps most notably UFC Hall of Famer and Bellator MMA contender Tito Ortiz, who has two children with the best-paid porn star in history, Jenna Jameson. Ortiz and Jameson are divorced, and the fighter was granted custody of the children.
Fighters in Pornographic Videos
Some fighters have appeared in pornographic videos by choice. Like Kimbo Slice, Jessica Aguilar had a non-sex performing cameo in a Reality Kings video.
Justin Frye used to be involved with television personality Kendra Wilkinson. Wilkinson is known for being one of Hugh Hefner’s three girlfriends, and appeared in The Girls Next Door reality television series, which covered their life in the Playboy Mansion. Her degree of comfort in front of the camera extended to the bedroom, where she and Frye filmed themselves enjoying each other’s company amorously. The resulting video was allegedly purchased in 2009 by the porn company Vivid, as part of a secret deal that saw Wilkinson paid $100,000 upfront, plus half the profit from sales of the video; the first check was reportedly for $680,000.
Kimbo Slice, real name Kevin Ferguson, worked for a long time providing security for the adult entertainment conglomerate Reality Kings, which was founded by his high school friend ‘Icey Mike’ Imber. Ferguson was by every account a family man and a gentleman, and has appeared in several pornographic films, but never a performer. Slice first found global notice when one of Imber’s porn sites shared video of the fighter and others engaged in bare-knuckle informal bouts in the backyard.
Read also: Evolution of UFC Combat
Aaron Brink began fighting in 1996, not long after the birth of the sport. Brink began appearing in adult movies in 2003, under the name Dick Delaware. He reported that once he got into the porn business he became addicted to crystal methamphetamine, and later other drugs. His struggle with drug addiction was chronicled by the A&E reality show Intervention (2009).
Dakota Cochrane and Gay Pornography
In 2012, TUF 15 hopeful Dakota Cochrane came forward with the news that he had appeared in multiple porn videos while in college. It was gay porn; and Cochrane is not gay. “He was absolutely 100 percent upfront. When you come on ‘The Ultimate Fighter,’ you get drug tested, you have extensive background tests, check-ups … we do everything on these guys,” said White.
“Medicals, etcetera, etcetera. He was 100 percent upfront and honest. We’ve had guys come on the show who have not been as upfront and honest and we find out before they ever make air. We were well aware of what he had done and so was FX. Cochrane was accepted onto The Ultimate Fighter, but did not ultimately win the fight to get into the TUF house. However, he fought on and had a long, successful professional fight career, that is ongoing.
“I think it’s a little bit courageous for both of us,” he said of the UFC’s decision to include him on the show. “I could just hide in a hole and no one would know except for the people close to me. And to them, I was upfront. I let them know right away so it wasn’t anything that could come back and bite them in the butt. I think maybe they respected that a little bit. I think some people judge against it, some people will be OK with it. Cochrane has indeed earned the respect of the sport.
“I’ll tell you right now, if there was a gay fighter in UFC, I wish he would come out,” said White in 2012. “I could care less if there’s a gay fighter in the UFC.
Read also: From UFC to BKFC: Mike Perry's Journey
War Machine and Violence
He began fighting professionally in 2004. In 2009 he announced he was pursuing parallel career paths, in MMA and in pornography. After rapidly appearing in a dozen videos, he erupted with violence at a porn star’s birthday party, which made him persona non grata in the industry. This was just one of several similar incidents. He had a relationship with porn star Christy Mac that ended when he beat her nearly to death. She sustained 18 broken bones, and a ruptured liver, among other injuries. War Machine was arrested after a manhunt.
The Disgraceful Downfall of War Machine
Sylvain Potard
French MMA champion Sylvain Potard has used his heavily muscled frame to effect in both the cage and in pornographic videos. Sylvain has appeared in heterosexual videos, and has appeared as a solo performer in videos directed toward a gay audience. These gay-oriented solo performances have included several heterosexual MMA fighters over the years.
Hayato Sakurai
Japanese welterweight Hayato Sakurai fought from 1996 to 2013, amassing a record of 37-13-2. The former Shooto world champion challenged Matt Hughes for the UFC title in 2002, losing via KO in the fourth round. He holds wins over Caol Uno, Frank Trigg, Jens Pulver, Dave Menne, and Shinya Aoki (twice), among others. Blame it on his other ring name. While the degree to which Sakurai knew he was in a pornographic movie is in question, others, like Brink, are professionals in the space.
Nude Photo Scandals: Ronda Rousey
On the opposite side, some figures in the MMA world have been filmed during intimate moments without any intention whatsoever of being in a porno. The UFC women’s bantamweight champion has previously discussed the ex-boyfriend she dubbed “Snappers McCreepy,” who surreptitiously took nude images of her.
Read also: Greatest WWE Wrestlers
“The first thing I did was take naked pictures for ESPN,” she said. “It was like two weeks before (my first title defense) and I was pumping out a lot of social media to try and get people to pay attention.
“I was downloading something and then I just saw a bunch of ass! ‘What is that?’ It looked like it was amateurly taken.
“You know when you’re just comfortable naked around somebody? Like you’re just naked on the bed playing DragonVale on your phone? I brush my teeth naked. That was all, every single thing, all naked.
“There could be stuff on his phone. I don’t know. It could come up any day, to be honest. That’s one of the reasons I went and wrote this book. The truth is the best armor. Data and information is what power is right now. If I put everything out there then I really don’t ever have to worry about anyone holding anything against me. Unlike most women victimized in this fashion, Rousey now has ferocious legal resources at her disposal.
