One-time UFC fighter Yoshinori Horie revealed the news on social media.
UFC veteran Yoshinori Horie announced on social media that he once moonlighted as a sex worker in order to fund his mixed martial arts career.
Horie, who suffered a head-kick TKO loss to Hakeem Dawodu in his lone UFC outing in 2019, revealed the news on Christmas Day, adding that he would perform sexual acts on men in exchange for payment.
“Five years ago, when I was with a friend, I was told that I could get money just by handjob in Shibuya, but I followed him, but I thought it was like that AV,” Horie stated on Twitter (via Google translate). “Lol I was told to hide my face with a solid mosaic and it was explained that it was not like that, but I was deceived in various ways lol I didn’t have the money and I really wanted to do martial arts on my own!”
While insisting that he “liked women, not gays,” Horie explained that his tenure as a sex worker earned him more money than a regular job and allowed him to focus on his dream to compete in MMA.
“I got 20,000 yen in less than an hour, but it was pretty big! I was able to face martial arts in a short time, exceeding the amount of 2 days of part-time work that I do for 8 hours while standing! It’s pretty painful now, but as long as I’m alive I can chase my dreams!”
Now more than five years removed from his sex worker past, Horie is a successful fighter with a respectable 12-3 professional record. He currently competes for RIZIN and is riding a three-fight win streak.