Forrest Griffin apologizes for rape comment and makes donation to rape crisis center

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin, who recently won $5000 for having one of the "most creative" tweets as judged by the promotion's new Twitter contest, will be giving some of that bonus money to the Rape Crisis Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.

That's because Griffin came under fire for a comment he made on his Twitter account that read, "Rape is the new missionary."

UFC President Dana White was quick to defend Griffin, insisting the comments were "completely misunderstood" and that his tweet "wasn't a joke."

Griffin went to the Rape Crisis Center on Thursday (Nov. 10, 2011) to meet with Executive Director Hannah Brook. After touring the facilities and making a donation, the best-selling author formally apologized for his comment.

Hear more from a "disgusted" Griffin (via ABC News), after the jump.

"I like to cause trouble, I like to stir the pot and I like to make a mess of things, but I really do not want to be mean or malicious to anyone. I feel bad, I want to apologize, I feel like a should be punished a little bit. Maybe other professional athletes or just guys in locker rooms can kind of be more sensitive towards the topic of rape. Once you take the comments in the light of day you feel disgusted by it, but at the time you don't think."

Zuffa has been walking on egg shells as it gears up for its first-ever network television debut with UFC on FOX: "Velasquez vs. Dos Santos" on Nov. 12 in Anaheim, California.

And the timing of Griffin's tweet couldn't have been worse, now that most of the sports media is focused on the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal at Penn State.

Now perhaps that Griffin has made amends, both he (and the UFC) can move on.

For more on the fallout from Griffin's tweet click here and here.