Miesha Tate joins Ronda Rousey and Gina Carano as women’s MMA fighters who have appeared in ESPN’s “The Body Issue.” (Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Miesha Tate criticized Ronda Rousey for posing “artistically nude” in last year’s ESPN the Magazine’s “The Body Issue.” Evidently, the UFC women’s No. 1 contender had a change of heart.
Tate will follow in the (bare) footsteps of Gina Carano and Ronda Rousey to become the next women’s MMA star to grace the pages of “The Body Issue” in her birthday suit, it was announced this week. Tate, a beautiful, fit brunette, will challenge her rival Rousey for the UFC women’s bantamweight title in December after coaching against her this fall on the “Ultimate Fighter” reality show.
Last year, Tate responded to remarks from Rousey regarding ring girls posing in Playboy by blasting her for posing in ESPN’s annual celebration of the human form.
“For an athlete, there’s no real reason to have to get nude, although I think there’s nothing wrong with ESPN,” Tate said in 2012. “I don’t think what Ronda did was wrong. I’m just saying it’s not OK to talk crap about the ring girls and then get 1 percent less naked and say it’s OK. To me it kind of falls in that hypocrisy.”
Tate has not changed her stance, though she is embracing the opportunity to be in the well-circulated magazine.
“I never said it was hypocritical for Ronda to pose nude for ‘The Body Issue,'” Tate told MMAjunkie.com. “I said it was hypocritical for her to talk crap about the octagon girls posing nude in Playboy and then go pose nude for ESPN. That was my only qualm. I feel like people will hear what they want to hear, but honestly, I had no issue with her being in ‘The Body Issue.’ I thought it was a great issue. I thought the photos were very nice and tastefully done, as ESPN always strives for.”
The 26-year-old Washington native said it wasn’t an easy choice to take it all off, admitting to being nervous about the entire process. The photo shoot ended up being on a private beach in California with blinders up so passers by couldn’t see.
“It really took some quality group decision-making for me to do it,” Tate told USA Today. “But now that I did it, it was an awesome experience, and I’m definitely very honored to be a part of this issue.”
Currently, Tate and Rousey are filming the 18th season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” which will air starting in September on new network FOX Sports 1. Tate is a replacement for Cat Zingano, who injured her knee.
UFC president Dana White has gone on record saying things are beginning to get ugly. Rousey defeated Tate for the Strikeforce women’s title last year and tensions have run deep between the two.
“Miesha and Ronda hate each other,” White said earlier this month. “It’s literally crazy drama every day. It’s irritating. … 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—— mayhem every day.”
With “The Body Issue” coming out in July, we’ll likely be seeing a lot of Tate in the coming months – literally.