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TUF 15 contestants gay porn background

  • 28-02-2012 9:52pm
    #1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,438 ✭✭✭✭


    LINK
    Multiple MMA sites are reporting that Dakota Cochrane, one of the contestants on the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter, has performed in gay pornographic videos. Cochrane is best known to MMA fans for his upset win over former WEC champ Jamie Varner last fall. The 25 year-old Cochrane has an 11-2 pro MMA record that also includes a win over four time NCAA Division III wrestling champ Marcus Levesseur.
    According to gay news blog Queerty, Cochrane was outed last fall along with another MMA fighter and porn performer:
    ...porn blogs recently outed these two porn performers as pro-mixed martial arts fighters-a style of ring fighting where opponents use any combination of boxing, wrestling, karate, and anything else you've ever seen used in a Van Damme or Steven Seagal movie.
    It will be very interesting to see how Dana White, the UFC and FX handle this news.
    White went on the record last fall about homosexual fighters:
    White said that while a few fighters occasionally step out of line, the vast majority -- "300-something," in his view are inspirational, role- model types to kids and adults.
    Though there has never been an openly gay fighter in the UFC, White said there would be no problems for that individual under his watch.
    "I'll tell you right now, if there's a gay fighter in the UFC, I wish he would come out," he said. "I could care less if there's a gay fighter in the UFC. There probably is, and there's probably more than one. It's 2012. Give me a break."
    He didn't however say anything about a fighter with a past as a gay porn performer. Recently the UFC apparently struggled with the decision of whether or not to sanction Octagon girl Chandella Powell after her soft-core porn past was revealed.
    Cochrane was officially named a contestant on the series yesterday when the cast list was released. All 32 contestants are expected to fight for a place on the show on the series' FX debut on Friday, March 9.



    It'll be interesting to see what the UFC do with this since the whole Chandella Powell incident.
    If they cut him, they could be accused of being homophobic and discriminating. I don't think they can do anything about it without being criticised so they're better off just leaving him in. FOX may have something to say about it though. They already banned the Gun Store and similar sponsors from all UFC events so I can't see them being too happy about it this either.
    It could make for some drama in the house though if other guys start slagging him over it!


«1

Comments

  • Closed Accounts Posts: 24,878 ✭✭✭✭arybvtcw0eolkf


    I hate coming over all moderator with you guys - but lads, no homophobic wise cracks ok!.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,628 ✭✭✭themandan6611


    he's a fighter and fair balls to him putting himself in the firing line and willing to have all his "private" life exposed.

    I hope he does well.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,902 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    They'll probably just buy the rights to what ever movies he was in. Easily done now they are aware.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    No different than War Machine who has done porn. The gender is irrelevant.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,959 ✭✭✭✭scudzilla


    Just because he done a gay movie doesn't mean he's gay, i think a lot of straight gay adult actors will do them if they need the cash. Any port in a storm and all that ;)

    Anyways, if it's true he should be binned, the same as that ring girl. They've set the precedent.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,902 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    dlofnep wrote: »
    No different than War Machine who has done porn. The gender is irrelevant.
    Homosexuality isn't a gender.

    And seeing that War Machine is currently in prison, prob not the best example of acceptable.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    Mellor wrote: »
    Homosexuality isn't a gender.

    Where did I say homosexuality was a gender? I was making a comparison between him and War Machine - where one did porn with guys, and one with girls.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,902 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    You never mentioned that you refered to the other people, so I made a joke (non homophobic as per warning). I didn't think you'd think I was serious.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,001 ✭✭✭Mr. Loverman


    You are born gay. It should be a total non-issue.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 146 ✭✭alanrebelsw


    Born gay.. Wtf..so evolution exists why?


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 17,708 ✭✭✭✭Mr. CooL ICE


    I assume him being gay is a non-issue, but the whole porn thing is what this is about.

    Personally, I don't think anything will happen. IMO, they were harsh to even consider sacking Powell but if they sack Cochrane, there will likely be backlash in the form of "omg, he was sacked for being gay!!!11!!1". That is water the UFC don't want to be treading in.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 356 ✭✭RebelSoul


    scudzilla wrote: »
    Anyways, if it's true he should be binned, the same as that ring girl. They've set the precedent.

    Which ring girl has been 'binned'?

    On topic, has the man done anything illegal? Last time I checked, and I am open to correction, pornography when performed by and viewed by adults of age consent is not illegal. Is the issue with public image of the UFC?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 397 ✭✭fightireland


    Mauro Ranallo interviewed the guy yesterday

    http://middleeasy.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7324:mauro-ranallo-talked-to-dakota-cochrane-just-hours-ago-about-his-gay-porn-past-heres-the-interview&catid=34:organizations

    Interview is about 10 mins long and worth a listen.

    He confirms that despite what you may think he is not homosexual.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,001 ✭✭✭Mr. Loverman


    Born gay.. Wtf..so evolution exists why?

    Are you serious - you think being gay is a lifestyle choice?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,559 ✭✭✭RoboRat


    Are you serious - you think being gay is a lifestyle choice?

    Personally I think this is a nurture vs nature question that really has no place on an MMA forum. Some people are born gay, whereas others can develop differently due to different circumstances and life experience (I'm not saying its a choice). Basically its a BIG ball of string that is an entirely different discussion.

    In regards to the question at hand, if Chandella was cut due to her past then the precedent has been set and they will be leaving themselves open to a civil action by her if they don't cut him. I'm sure they have it somewhere in their terms of employment to cover themselves. I guess the question really boils down to what his actual role was in these movies. It will also be interesting to see how they cope with the inevitable homophobic backlash they will get if they do cut him.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 39,902 ✭✭✭✭Mellor


    Born gay.. Wtf..so evolution exists why?

    Are you serious - you think being gay is a lifestyle choice?
    I don't think this is the place for such a discussion.
    But Not every single gay person claims to have been born gay. Nor does everyone have a choice


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,001 ✭✭✭Mr. Loverman


    Mellor wrote: »
    I don't think this is the place for such a discussion.
    But Not every single gay person claims to have been born gay. Nor does everyone have a choice

    People who think lads suddenly decide one day to be gay are living on cuckoo land. The guy had no choice in the matter - he is gay. We can argue nature vs nurture but the fact of the matter remains people do not choose to be gay.

    However, doing gay porn is a whole different affair and I think he will have to be sacked based on what they did with Chandella.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,549 ✭✭✭✭cowzerp


    Mod hat on, End of discussion about science and sexuality,talk Mma or don't discuss at all, what people do in there scratchers is their business Once it's legal, also it was done in the past and not while contracted so should be left in the past.

    Rush Boxing club and Rush Martial Arts head coach.



  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,001 ✭✭✭Mr. Loverman


    cowzerp wrote: »
    it was done in the past and not while contracted so should be left in the past.

    I agree but was the Chandella thing done in the past or while contracted?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,549 ✭✭✭✭cowzerp


    I agree but was the Chandella thing done in the past or while contracted?

    What I'm saying about the past is my opinion only-hers was years ago too but it could be in her contract about stuff like that, fighters contracts I'd imagine would be totally different than ring girls as essentially ring girls are naturally in a modelling type role so more likely to do modelling roles that the UFC don't approve of.

    Either way ring girls are treated as too important to the show-sometimes I think I'd prefer different ones like you get in boxing anyway ;)

    Rush Boxing club and Rush Martial Arts head coach.



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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 813 ✭✭✭Shazbot


    scudzilla wrote: »
    Anyways, if it's true he should be binned, the same as that ring girl. They've set the precedent.

    Chandella wasn't fired from the UFC. link

    As other have said, this is a non event. Is it the fact he's gay or done gay porn? As Dana mentioned sometime last year "I could care less if there's a gay fighter in the UFC. There probably is and there's probably more than one." So there should be no issue, and rightly so, of him being homosexual.

    They didn't fire Chandella so I don't see why they'd suddenly get upset about a guys past career.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 517 ✭✭✭rich.d.berry


    Spot-the-Difference-610x423.jpg


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,001 ✭✭✭Mr. Loverman


    I remember watching a thing about porn and they were saying lots of straight porn actors do gay porn for the money, so he may in fact not be gay.

    I'm afraid to read the comments on a US MMA forum...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,559 ✭✭✭RoboRat


    They didn't fire Chandella so I don't see why they'd suddenly get upset about a guys past career.

    If that's the case then they can't fire him. Company law is an absolute minefield and you have two of the biggest mines in regards to homophobia and sexism there. Fire him its homophobia and sexist if they allow Chandella to stay on.

    Basically its all about what is down on his contract, if it clearly states that this is not allowed and should have been disclosed prior to signing the contract then he can be fired, if its not then he has no case to answer. I do however think they will use the Chandella case as the precedent, whether disclosure is or is not part of his contract.

    Personally I don't think that Dana has an issue with a fighters sexuality so the gay facet is a non issue. I also think that what a person does in their past, provided its not illegal should have no bearing on their current life. To be honest, with my marketing hat on, Dana could really use this to the benefit of the UFC and there is no better person than Dana to exploit a marketing opportunity.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,438 ✭✭✭✭El Guapo!


    Whether he's gay or not isn't an issue. It's the porn past that may cause some grief. I don't think the UFC will want to do anything about it. It's a non-issue.
    The problem might be with Fox though. They like to be as clean cut as possible and don't like stuff like this. Cutting the gun store as a sponsor is a prime example. So if there is any hassle I'd say it'll come from Fox.
    Personally it doesn't bother me what he did in his past. Im only interested in what he's like in the cage and that's all that matters really.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 774 ✭✭✭stealinhorses


    I'm sure he'll be treated nicely by some meatheads in the TUF house if they find out...


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,933 ✭✭✭Logical Fallacy


    Dean09 wrote: »
    Whether he's gay or not isn't an issue. It's the porn past that may cause some grief. I don't think the UFC will want to do anything about it. It's a non-issue.
    The problem might be with Fox though. They like to be as clean cut as possible and don't like stuff like this. Cutting the gun store as a sponsor is a prime example. So if there is any hassle I'd say it'll come from Fox.
    Personally it doesn't bother me what he did in his past. Im only interested in what he's like in the cage and that's all that matters really.

    Yeah, the whole gun store thing was a bit weird.

    Fox Sports - no gun sponsorship.

    Fox TV shows - guns out the ass.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 146 ✭✭alanrebelsw


    Dont put words in my mouth,answer my question... Evolution exists why?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 396 ✭✭The Bored One


    Dont put words in my mouth,answer my question... Evolution exists why?

    Evolution isn't a force in itself, it's a term we use to describe a specific pattern.
    It has no purpose in itself, its an effect, not a cause.

    Moving on from that as requested though.

    I don't think the UFC will do anything regarding the guys background, I do think there will be at least some negativity in the household though. Best case scenario it just become something of a running joke, worst case there's actual homophobic response, which could get very messy.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,549 ✭✭✭✭cowzerp


    Dont put words in my mouth,answer my question... Evolution exists why?

    Banned, asked not to discuss this.

    Rush Boxing club and Rush Martial Arts head coach.



  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    he's a fighter and fair balls to him

    tee hee hee


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    I remember watching a thing about porn and they were saying lots of straight porn actors do gay porn for the money, so he may in fact not be gay.

    I'm afraid to read the comments on a US MMA forum...

    I think that was the Louis Theroux documentary on porn. He's actually doing a follow-up on it according to his twitter account.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    I'm pretty sure if one of the contestants used to do straight porn in the past this wouldn't be a story!


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    It will be funny to see how awkward some of the contestants act. Especially, the traditional homophobic rednecks.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    dlofnep wrote: »
    It will be funny to see how awkward some of the contestants act. Especially, the traditional homophobic rednecks.

    If it was me i'd completely play up on it!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,559 ✭✭✭RoboRat


    It will be funny to see how awkward some of the contestants act. Especially, the traditional homophobic rednecks.

    You called...

    johnny_bedford_head.png


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,051 ✭✭✭winston82


    I hate coming over all moderator with you guys - but lads, no homophobic wise cracks ok!.

    I've given up making sexual innuendos for lent but this is going to be hard.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    winston82 wrote: »
    I've given up making sexual innuendos for lent but this is going to be hard.

    That's what (she) he said!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,933 ✭✭✭Logical Fallacy


    MrStuffins wrote: »
    If it was me i'd completely play up on it!

    Didn't Lodune Sincaid do that pre the Southwork KO?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    Didn't Lodune Sincaid do that pre the Southwork KO?

    I've no idea, it's been a long time since that series of TUF!

    Although, completely unrelated anecdote:


    When UFC was here a couple of years back we went to see Joe Rogan in The Sugar Club the night before. We were top of the queue to get in and before the door opened a guy I recognised walked up ahead of us and got in the door before we did. I knew I knew his face from somewhere and must gave him that "Don't i know you?" look.

    Anyway, when the show was over we went and spoke to Joe and Eddie Bravo and stuff which was cool and as I was walking PAST this original dude he thought i was approaching him and said "Yeah, it's me! Although i've got nothing for me to sign".

    Only when I got home I realised it was Chris Sandford from TUF 1! The fact he thought I was trying to get his autograph has always been one of those things I think back on and laugh about. What a deluded man!


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 732 ✭✭✭Xlami


    Fairly sure Chandella was given the boot because she lied when signing her contract. Not sure if that's the case with Cochrane.

    Also War Machine will never fight in a big show again and is the worst imaginable ambassador for the sport.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    Gay porn though? With a name like "Dakota" you had to at least presume he was a lap-dancer at some stage!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 12,438 ✭✭✭✭El Guapo!


    LINK
    DakotaCochrane_large_large.jpg
    Feb 28, 2012 - To the people that know him best, Dakota Cochrane's secret wasn't a secret at all. It's not something he kept from prospective business relationships, either. As his mixed martial arts career took off, his friend Kirk Schuster, who was looking after his career, would often receive phone calls from other management companies about representing Cochrane. They would try to woo Schuster with promises of a UFC contract for Cochrane.

    Do me one favor, Schuster would tell them, Google his name and call me back if you're still interested. A return call never came. Not once.

    Everyone has a past. But in the testosterone-filled sports world, Cochrane's past proved impossible to outrun. What he describes as a temporary lapse in judgment from his college days continues to revisit him. It did again this week, shortly after FX announced that he had been chosen as one of the 32 finalists that will compete for a chance to be on that network's first season of The Ultimate Fighter. Within 24 hours, the news was all over the MMA blogosphere: while in college, he had participated in gay pornography.




    "It's definitely a decision I regret," he told MMA Fighting. "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."
    But no matter the size of the mistake, it was one he made no effort to escape on the eve of his biggest opportunity. On his audition tape for TUF, he included an introduction that mentioned all about his past. Everything.

    "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 up front. 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. Some people will want me to get my butt kicked, and hopefully others will respect what I'm trying to do."

    The 25-year-old Cochrane, who is not gay, says he earned around $80,000 overall from taping the videos, which he made while a college student at the University of Nebraska-Kearney, where he was an all-league track athlete as a pole vaulter and 4x100 meter relay runner.

    "Every time I was down there, I hated it," he said.

    Finally, when he admitted to his girlfriend Lacey Sechtem what he was doing, she asked him to stop, and the short-lived career was over. At the time, Cochrane had no idea he would one day become a professional athlete and that the decision would follow him and possibly cause some detours to his path.

    Schuster, who is now his manager, told MMA Fighting that Cochrane has had several opponents back out of fights after learning of his history, as well as promoters withdraw offers to him. None of it, however, served to dissuade Cochrane from chasing his goal of fighting in the UFC.

    "This kid honestly is a role model," said Schuster, who housed Cochrane for a year earlier in his career. "The reason I say that is because he made a mistake, he recognized his mistake. He paid at the time and he continues to pay for it every day, but he remains mentally strong. I think it fuels him and drives him to prove to people that he can overcome this. He's always told me, 'We'll keep fighting in shows until they either have no choice but to want me, or I can't fight anymore.'"

    Cochrane actually missed his first shot at the UFC. Schuster said that the promotion's matchmaker Joe Silva had once called about the possibility of signing Cochrane for a short-notice fight as a replacement, but by the time he returned the call, the spot had already been filled.

    But even then, Cochrane and Schuster had been candid about his background, embracing honesty as the best course of action.

    Aside from the obvious back story, Cochrane's rise is interesting due to his history as a track star, a fairly novel background in MMA. He first tried the sport during some time off when he was bored. He trained for six months, scored a knockout in his first amateur fight and was quickly hooked.

    "Beating someone up, it's pretty exciting," he said with a laugh.

    But making a career out of it wasn't an early thought. At first it was a fun side interest, but as he improved and his competitive instinct kicked in, the sport's pull intensified.

    He won his first four pro fights. By the time he defeated former WEC champion Jamie Varner last September to improve to 11-1, it was obvious that he was nearing the big leagues. But by then, he'd already had the experience of his past resurfacing, albeit on much smaller scales.

    Even when he was back in college running track, the news popped up. Then, when he moved to Omaha and started training MMA there, it popped up again. But this time is a little different, his past being exposed on a national scope.

    "I'm looking forward to getting it done and over with," he said. "People can be shocked, and people can say whatever they need to say, and then we can move on."

    "They're saying the same things they've been saying for seven years," Schuster added. "They're not coming up with anything new."

    Cochrane says he's a far different person than he was then. He's now a father of two, and Lacey, his girlfriend at the time he was making the videos, stuck by him and is soon to become his wife. The decision he made years ago was a selfish one, made for money, but this opportunity to be on TUF isn't just about him; it's a chance to enrich his family.

    On Thursday, he'll get on an airplane and fly to Las Vegas while attempting to put aside the distractions of this week and focus, because alongside will be 31 other fighters filled with the same dream. They'll all have pasts, too, just not ones that everyone else knows about. That's OK with Cochrane. It's his mistake, and he's owning it.

    "All I can ask," he said, "is that people respect that I've overcome something like that and tried to make a negative into a positive."


    I have to say, fair play to the guy for being up-front and honest about it from the very start. At least he didn't try to cover it up and end up having it all exposed afterwards.
    I know he didn't have much option as everybody would've found out pretty quickly, but at least he had the balls to say it to the UFC in his audition tape so there was no hidden surprises down the line.
    Fair play to him and I hope he does well.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 20,759 ✭✭✭✭dlofnep


    Some of the comments over on the UG are just downright revolting.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    That doesnt surprise me at all.

    Fair play to the guy for being as up front as possible and just being honest about it.

    Although for his manager to call him a "role model" is a bit of a stretch!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,344 ✭✭✭p to the e


    He earned $80,000 from it? Where do I sign up? A lot of people were wondering if he'd be cut from UFC after this surfacing but it seems they knew all along. Wise move on Dakota's part.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 92 ✭✭mcdermott


    4 pages on negative gutter journalism...

    2 pages on Ali Maclean making the last 32...

    Priorities?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    mcdermott wrote: »
    4 pages on negative gutter journalism...

    2 pages on Ali Maclean making the last 32...

    Priorities?

    2 pages on the news that a guy made the last 32 of TUF. A season which hasn't even started yet so we have no idea what happened to him, how he got on, whether or not he even won his preliminary fight. The discussion hasn't even started yet.

    4 pages on a discussion which includes interlinked stories from recent MMA news (Chandella etc), includes how a guy might be perceived for once engaging in homosexual acts, how him partaking in gay porn has effected his fighting career and his life in general, his bravery in coming forward before trying out, the seeming hypocrisy of the decision to ban The Gun Store, there was even a discussion on Nature vs Nurture.

    But yeah... priorities! :rolleyes:


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 19,323 ✭✭✭✭MrStuffins


    mcdermott wrote: »
    4 pages on negative gutter journalism...

    2 pages on Ali Maclean making the last 32...

    Priorities?

    Also:

    1. mcdermott, 0 posts in Ali MacLean thread

    2. mcdermott, 1 post in negative journalism thread

    3. ????

    4. Profit


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,987 ✭✭✭JohnMc1


    The 25-year-old Cochrane, who is not gay,

    There you have it then. This is just being played up for controversy.

    My take on this. Thank God Baseball is starting soon and I haven't watched this crap in years and I don't intend to anytime soon.


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