Speaking to the New York Daily News, new “The Ultimate Fighter” coach and upcoming UFC title contender Miesha Tate noted her desire to “show that women in this sport are comfortable about their bodies, that we’re pretty and carry ourselves as women, and we can also turn it up a notch in the cage.”
Her nude shoot for the ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue, from which the NY Daily News posted a photo, will ideally go a long way in proving that the successful female fighters can be attractive and feminine without sacrificing toughness.
“One of the biggest common misperceptions about women’s mixed martial arts is that we’re not feminine,” explains Tate.
Though shot on a private beach, Tate and the camera crew were still visible to local residents and onlookers, which made for a challenging experience.
“It was nerve-racking because even though it was a private beach, there’s still big houses all around and we had a couple of people trying to walk by the shoot,” says Tate in the Daily News interview. “They kept turning around and walking in the background and our crew kept having to hold up blinders so they wouldn’t see me.
The photo, shot by Ben Watts for ESPN The Magazine, is available in the NY Daily News feature, which also houses the Matt Harvey, Kenneth Faried, Courtney Force and Elena Hight shots.
