Gina Carano, Randy Couture to Be Featured in ESPN’s ‘Body Issue’

Gina Carano and Randy Couture will be among the 30 male and female professional athletes posing nude or semi-nude in ESPN The Magazine’s first “Body Issue,” which hits newsstands on Oct. 9.

Couture’s cauliflower ear will be the focus of his spread and Carano will be posing semi-nude in “The Bodies We Want” photo section.

“You really get an idea of everything these guys and gals go through and the toll it takes sometimes,” said Sue Hovey, the executive editor of ESPN The Magazine.

“Randy has a very interesting looking ear, known as a cauliflower ear, and I think that when you’ll see it, you’ll realize that this guy goes through a lot to do what he loves.”

Major names from the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, tennis and boxing will also be featured in the special issue, which will be released once a year. And yes, private parts will be strategically covered up.

“These athletes, they were very brave because we were asking to look at some of the more visually vulnerable places on their body,” said Gary Belsky, editor in chief of ESPN The Magazine.

Carano hasn’t been heard from much since she lost to Cris Cyborg in August. It was announced earlier this month that she will be appearing in Oscar-award winning director Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming film, Knockout.

Couture recently lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102. He is scheduled to face Brandon Vera in the main event of UFC 105 on Nov. 14.

Ever since The Magazine put Chuck Liddell on its cover in May 2007, it has been consistent in shining a bit of the sports spotlight on MMA. Nice to see two of the sport’s bigger names featured in this unique issue.

Source: MMA Fanhouse