UFC: Miesha Tate Featured in ESPN The Magazine's "Body Issue"; Says She Will Shoot Herself Rather Than Tap-Out To Rival Ronda Rousey

Following in the footsteps of her mixed martial arts (MMA) nemesis and peers, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) women's bantamweight number one contender Miesha Tate is featured in this year's ESPN The Magazine "Body Issue" coming out July 12th.

Tate is one of a few mixed martial arts fighters that have made an appearance in the annual ESPN issue, which features both male and female athletes showing off the physical results of their hard work.

Former Strikeforce women's champions featherweight champions Gina Carano and Cris "Cyborg" Santos, UFC Hall of Famer and current Fight Masters: Bellator MMA coach Randy Couture, current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, and current UFC bantamweight women's champion Ronda Rousey have all previously posed for the magazine.

Tate feels that posing for the "Body Issue" can help rid the perception that female MMA competitors are "manly".

"One of the of the biggest common misperceptions about women's mixed martial arts is that we're not feminine," said Tate to the New York 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."

Tate, who lost her Strikeforce title to Rousey in 2011 and has developed quite a disdain for the UFC women's champ, is Rousey's opposing coach in the upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter show, replacing the injured Cat Zingano. Tate will also take Zingano's slot in the December 28th UFC 168 main event, giving her a chance to avenge her lose and take Rousey's belt.

Rousey forced Tate to tap out, during their 2011 match, after cinching an arm-bar that nearly snapped Tate's arm and separated her shoulder, en route to winning her first professional MMA title fight.

"Swear to God, she's not going to arm-bar me if it's the last thing I do," said Tate. "I will seriously shoot myself in the face before I leave that cage if she armbars me again. It can't happen."

The UFC's annual year-end pay-per-view event is a huge day on UFC president's Dana White's calendar and he feels that between the animosity that Rousey and Tate have since their first encounter, being in each other's faces during the filming of TUF, and the trash being fired back and forth between the competitors, this year's end-of-year card will be a huge event.

Rousey has even taken shots at Tate's boyfriend, saying that UFC fighter Bryan Caraway is "always glued to [Tate's] hip because if he's not next to her, no one ever notices him."

"These two bring the absolute f-king worst out of each other. They both look like f-king lunatics," said White in regards to Rousey and Tate. "There were a couple of reality moments I had to get involved in, of course, cause these two are f-king nuts.  They hate each other, so I had to get involved a couple times."