UFC flyweight fighter, Jeff Molina, has come out as bisexual after video footage of him engaged in sexual activity with another man leaked online.
Queerty readers may remember Molina, 25, from a news story we ran last summer. He wore official, UFC-produced Pride Month merchandise for a match in Las Vegas. Molina also spoke about being an LGBTQ ally. He clapped back against some of the homophobic reactions he experienced at the time.
“To all the dudes sliding in my DM’s I’m a straight guy but pshhh I’m flattered! ☺️ For all the homophobic dudes upset by me repping pride month on my fight kit y’all some fruit cups.”
It turns out that wasn’t the whole story. After a video leaked showing Molina giving a blow job to another man, the fighter posted a coming-out statement on his Twitter last Friday.
“I’ve tried to keep my dating life private”
“Welp.. this f***ing sucks,” Molina said. “Not the way I wanted to do this but the chance to do it when I was ready was taken from me.
“I’ve tried to keep my dating life private from social media. I’ve dated girls my whole life and suppressed feelings I had throughout high school being on the wrestling team, throughout college pursuing MMA, and even after making part of the dream happen and getting into the UFC.
“’I’m a pretty masculine dude and that bro-y banter and sus sense of humor has always been how I am.
“The thought of my buddies, team-mates and [people] I look up to looking at me different – let alone treating me different – for something I can’t control was something I couldn’t fathom.
“’In a sport like this where a majority of the fans being the homophobic cocks*ckers they are I didn’t see myself doing this during this part of my career.
“I wanted to be known for my skills and what I’ve dedicated the last 11 years of my life to and not the ‘bi UFC fighter’ that I’m sure would be translated to ‘gay UFC fighter.’
“To the awful disturbed person that decided to post this ishh I hope it was worth it.
“At the end of the day I know my character, morals, and who I am as a person. As much as I’m getting hated on I’m getting an equal amount of support.”
Who is Jeff Molina?
Molina was born in New Jersey but grew up in Kansas. He made his UFC debut in April 2021. However, he was temporarily suspended by UFC in December following allegations of his involvement in a betting scheme, according to ESPN. Authorities continue to investigate those allegations.
One rival fighter took to social media to question the timing of Molina’s coming out.
Sean Strickland, 32, suggested the coming out shifts attention away from Molina’s suspension.
Strickland went on to ask, “Was this a planned leak?”
Meh mans looking at his career fading away.. was this a planned leak?
— Sean Strickland (@SStricklandMMA) March 17, 2023
Strickland’s tweets prompted an angry response from Molina.
“Temporarily suspended until the investigation is over. I didn’t rig shit. but hope this empowers you to come out too bubba 😂🏳️🌈”
Temporarily suspended until the investigation is over- I didn’t rig shit. but hope this empowers you to come out too bubba 😂🏳️🌈
— Jeff Molina (@jmolina_125) March 17, 2023
Donston
This “coming out” statement gives off “I may have been caught sucking dick but I’m still into chicks and I’m still really macho” basic type vibes. While claiming that you’re “straight” but “flattered” isn’t really trying to keep your life private. He also seems to be another queer guy hyper concerned with staving off “gay”. It’s all rather dated as hell, but I guess that’s not surprising coming from an MMA fighter.
I get the struggle. And I of course understand how complicated “sexuality”, sociology, hetero pressures, ego, and the gender, sexual, affection, romantic, emotion, commitment spectrum can be. I am however tired of the media and social media showing unabashed love to “straight passing” dudes who are forced to admit a degree of queerness. All while those dudes still give off gay insecurities and toxic masculinity, and still seem generally manipulative. But good luck to him and his journey and his legal conflicts.
Mister Dawson
Give the man time to come to terms with his journey. Most people are given and allowed to come out in their own terms.
He clearly stated this sport and fan base isn’t supportive of the LGBT+ community. Let’s show him our support and the kindness for anyone who was unwillingly outed.
None of us knows what he is going through or what support he has. Let’s wish the man well.
Donston
I’m certainly sympathetic when it comes to every queer struggle. And I get how fundamentally difficult to comprehend sexual dimensions, your psychology, your insecurities, who you want to love and be with can be. But I also don’t live in fairytale land. There’s a good chance wanting to “prove” his masculinity and how much of a “tough guy” he is was a big reason why he got into MMA fighting. You can’t then turn around and blame MMA fighting for your struggles. Those struggles were already there. Also, most of my contention is with the media and social media’s reactions to these types of things. There’s rarely a desire to call out problematic language or harmful patterns or personal responsibility. While these closeted male public figures need to stop allowing these randoms to film them giving head then complain when it gets online. They are clearly getting off on the “risk taking” of it and getting off on living a “secret life”, but they don’t want to admit that’s an aspect of why they do what they do.
There’s no problem with wishing someone well while also breaking down the actual reality of things.
Donston
I’m also just inherently leery of these guys who are “forced” out but want to immediately push “pride” (and often eventually profit off of “pride”). Just like I’m leery of these guys who want to start talking about their queerness when they’re looking to get money from “queers” (case in point these dudes who want to speak on their queer aspects as soon as they start an OnlyFans).
We need to acknowledge that out men can be manipulative or exploitative or heavily driven by insecurities or simply messy. While we still acknowledge all the struggles and prejudices and individualism. It doesn’t have to be one way or the other. But we’ve gotten to the point of removing nuance from these conversations. As I already said, good luck to him and his struggles and journey.
Kangol2
Donston, as always you make some great points. I do wish Jeff Molina well. He was and is an ally in a pretty homophobic and transphobic sport, he clearly was trying to signal his allyship (and queerness) even though he denied by gay/queer, and now that he’s been outed in a particularly ugly way he’s coming clean. It’s a journey and you’re right to point out the nuances. But I hope he can heal, step into his truth and keep going forward. As for the criminal charges, I’ll leaves those for the court and a jury to decide.
johncp56
Yes because they fear gay boxers kicking there sallow minded asses