Miesha Tate, Courtney Force and others pose for ESPN Body Issue

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Espn has announced the list of athletes for its annual Body Issue, which features stunning photography of various athletes playing or posing in the nude. The athletes include Matt Harvey, Colin Kaepernick, Kenneth Faried, Kerri Walsh Jennings, Giancarlo Stanton, Swin Cash, Courtney Force, John Wall, Vernon Davis, John Isner, Sydney Leroux, Carly Booth, Joffrey Lupul, Elena Hight, Agnieszka Radwanska, Chris Sharma and Daila Ojeda, Tarah Gieger, Marlen Esparza and one of our favorites Miesha Tate.

Courtney Force on being a part of ESPN Body Issue:
Force was asked to pose for the issue in 2012 before she became the NHRA rookie of the year.

“I turned it down because I wanted to focus on drag racing,” she said. “It was my rookie year, and I wanted to establish myself as much as I could before bringing all that type of media attention. I wanted to get media attention just based on my driving and nothing else.”

Force felt differently this year.

“It is a big deal and a real honor to be asked,” Force said. “I put a lot of thought into it before stepping out of my comfort zone. I wanted to make sure everyone in my family was OK with it before going forward.”

Miesha Tate on Women’s MMA:
Fast forward to 2013 and Tate spins things differently. “One of the of the biggest common misperceptions about women’s mixed martial arts is that we’re not feminine,” she said in the NY Daily News. “So for me it’s important 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.”
Links: Miesha Tate’s Weigh-in Against Cat Zingano

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