Ronda Rousey, MMA Star, Refuses to Pose for Playoby
Ronda Rousey, mixed martial artist and rising star, has explained why she will never pose for revealing magazines such as Playboy this week.
The 26-year-old fighter declared that she would never take off her clothes for any price.
"No one should be able to see my cash and prizes for $5, okay," Rousey told New York Daily News. "I don't care how much money they gave me."
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The California native is the first and current UFC Women's Bantamweight Champion. Rousey is also the former Strikeforce Women's Bantamweight Champion.
Furthermore, the jujoka artist was also the first American to earn an Olympic medal in Judo during the Summer Olympics in Bejing in 2008.
Rousey gained even more fame after appearing in a tastefully shot ESPN issue last year entitled ESPN The Magazine's The Body Issue.
Although she did show some skin in the ESPN spread in order to raise her own profile and that of the MMA, Rousey explained that going completely nude would not be good for her career.
"I felt like it was a good way to promote myself and women's MMA," the fighter explained. "It wasn't like Playboy."
Meanwhile, Rousey is preparing for a historical moment- she and MMA fighter Liz Carmouche will become the first women to ever compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). The fight has resulted in the world's largest MMA promotion, with media sites abuzz over Rousey on Friday.
"I didn't think it would be this big," Rousey told USA Today of the attention over the record-making match. "It's a little bit surprising."
The match will air on pay-per-view Saturday at 10 p.m. EST.
UFC president Dana White credited Rousey for there being immense media interest in Saturday's fight.
"No fighter has ever fought in the UFC that has had more attention than she has," said White. "It's a fact. Honestly, going into it, I didn't know that would happen. I didn't know HBO and Time magazine and all these other outlets that never cover us would."
