UFC women’s bantamweight fighter Miesha Tate will appear in ESPN the Magazine’s fifth annual “Body Issue.”
The “Body Issue” features athletes posing in nude or semi-nude photographs. Launched as an attempt to boost the magazine’s decline advertising spending, the inaugural issue hit newsstands October 9, 2009. The first issue had six alternate covers featuring Serena Williams, Adrian Peterson, Gina Carano, Sarah Reinersten, Dwight Howard, and Carl Edwards. Williams’ cover sold the most copies, and the issue was a financial success.
Tate’s rival, UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, covered the 2012 issue . Tate asked on Twitter if anyone thought it was hypocritical of Rousey to criticize ring girls for posing in Playboy , only to pose “artistically nude” herself. Tate went on to say that it made more sense for ring girls to pose nude since their jobs are “solely based on sex appeal.” In an interview with MMA H.E.A.T., Tate said that she was “so tired of Ronda criticizing everyone else.”
Tate and Rousey are currently facing off as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 18, and UFC president Dana White said their rivalry is getting out of control.
“It’s going exactly the way you’d expect it to be going, bad! I’m dead serious. Miesha and Ronda hate each other. It’s literally crazy drama every day. It’s irritating. It’s Ken-Tito type stuff,” White said. “I don’t even know if some of the stuff will make TV. It’s bad. Those two do not like each other and their camps do not like each other. And it’s just pure f***ing mayhem every day.”
The two will face off in the ring once again during the TUF season finale, which will air on Fox Sports 1 in the fall.
Also appearing in the 2013 “Body Issue” are San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, New York Mets pitcher Matt Harvey, golf legend Gary Player , Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried, and Washington Wizards point guard John Wall, among others.
The “Body Issue” hits newsstands July 12.
Are you looking forward to seeing Miesha Tate in the “Body Issue?”