UFC siren clarifies ‘desperate’ OnlyFans comments

Ex-UFC ruler Miesha Tate says comments in which she suggested that female fighters who use OnlyFans as a secondary income stream are 'desperate' have been taken out of context.

Amid the backdrop of an ever-growing issue surrounding fighter pay in the UFC, Tate drew heat online this week after suggestions that the chances of her one day opening an account to show off skimpy photographs on the paid subscription website were nil, and that she wasn't "desperate".

The unspoken implication, at least to some, was that the increasing number of female current or former UFC fighters who have gone down that avenue – including the likes of Paige VanZant, Jessica Andrade, Jessica Penne, Kay Hansen and Bec Rawlings, were indeed desperate to make the leap.

Miesha Tate is a former UFC champion. © Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

"This is aggravating. Yes women have an only fans and what of it?" UFC fighter Julia Avila said in riposte.

"Maybe they want attention. Maybe they want an extra dollar. Maybe they just WANT TO CELEBRATE THEIR WOMANHOOD AND HOW FUCKING GORGEOUS THEY ARE.

"It’s not our place to judge or to tear down another woman for it. Fix your crown queen before casting stones on another because, honey, NONE of us are without fault and it’s a hard fucking world without having to tear one another down.

"Rather than criticizing how about, ‘it’s not for me’, plain and simple."

Tate – who has previously posed nude for ESPN's 'The Body' issue in 2013 – has addressed the furor online and says that her comments have been taken entirely out of context, and were intended merely to shut down nosy fans who had been pestering her online.

"Ladies this was taken way out of context, I had  some fans harassing me insinuating I needed to start an only fans. I responded jokingly, this was not a statement I made about other women. I appreciate we can all have our own choices and I support women 100%," she wrote online.

"I am truly sorry I have friends the industry and I support that 100%. In no way shape or form was it my intention to put anyone down, I am only human I let someone make me mad and what I said to them was not a rep of how I feel about this as a whole."

Tate's apology was also undersigned by pornographic actress and OnlyFans stalwart Kenda Lust, who said the fighter is a good friend and that she has always been supportive in her endeavors.

"I know Miesha, she is a friend," wrote Lust. "I know how she said it came off but I know that's not how she meant it. She has supported me [100%] always. I believe her. Miesha is one the sweetest that would never intentionally put down other women for [their] career choices because it's adult."

Former UFC stunner VanZant, who now competes in bare-knuckle boxing, has previously stated that her earnings from her subscription-only website far outstrip the paychecks she earned in both the UFC and BKFC, as more and more fighters seek alternative methods of bolstering their bank accounts.

VanZant had also previously stated that she would refuse any offers to join OnlyFans after numerous requests from her 3+ million Instagram following - only to later relent and launch a similarly themed website under her own name.