UFC Women’s Champion Ronda Rousey graces the cover of ESPN the Magazine for the second time in her already storied career as a professional ass-kicker, this time as part of the Worldwide Network’s publication’s celebration of 15 years as a magazine. Man, I can’t believe that it has really been 15 years since the Mag started arriving at my home in terrible condition because it was bigger than my other magazines so the mailman needed to cram it into my slot… wait, that’s the story of how I was conceived.

Anyway, like I said, this is Rousey’s second cover, as she made her first appearance on/in the 2012 Body Issue. Don’t remember that one? That’s okay, I’ve got it right here.

Read the rest of this entry »

As news leaked yesterday that ESPN had produced a music issue of the network’s magazine that will hit stands on Friday, the spectrum of reaction ran from “Oh God why?” to “Wait, music, huh?” And while I would totally be on board with ESPN the Magazine publishing an issue dedicated to professional athletes who have acted like musicians and vice versa, this is instead just an exercise in athletes dressing up to look like popular musicians. I know, I don’t really understand it either.

Included in the issue, which features LeBron James on the cover with Dr. Dre, is an interview with Jimmy Iovine, the man behind the Beats by Dre headphones. He claims that LeBron James is a better athlete now than he was four years ago because of those headphones. Seriously. Additionally, there’s also a feature on Seattle’s new superstar emcee, Macklemore, who our own Josh Kurp wrote about yesterday.

But the real fun is had with the athletes, and it starts with Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte recreating Nirvana’s “Nevermind” album cover.

Read the rest of this entry »

Nice to see LeBron reading up on Dwight Howard.

When I first read that ESPN the Magazine had teamed up with Marvel to create a one-time, limited edition comic book for LeBron James, I rolled my eyes and groaned. It was bad enough that Tim Tebow got his own comic book – not sure whatever happened with that – but now ESPN could profess its hot, stinky man love for the reigning NBA Finals MVP and gold medalist across 20-plus pages of embellished artistry. And when I read that the comic was titled “King of the Rings”, I pulled my eyes out of my head, dipped them in acid, shoved them back in their sockets and rolled them again.

But then a funny thing happened – I read the comic. It’s actually not terrible. Sure, in theory it only feeds the league’s greatest, most uncontrollable ego and provides more ammunition for the shallow belief that the Miami Heat can just steamroll the entire league for the next 5 years. I mean, it’s not out of the realm of possibility, but it’s still an obnoxious overstatement. When it comes to pure, comic entertainment value, though, this little book is pretty damn good.

Read the rest of this entry »

For anyone who doesn’t follow Strikeforce or Olympic judo, Ronda Rousey would have been an unfamiliar name until she recently appeared in the ESPN Body Issue. However, she earned that photoshoot by being 5-0 in her young MMA career and the reigning Strikeforce Bantamweight Champion. And yes, it also helps that she’s rather attractive.

Rousey is very well known for her trash talk as well, being one of the greatest living advertisements in Strikeforce history. So it makes sense that the guys at EsNews would press her for some golden quotes in a recent interview. The reporters asked her which celebrities she’d like to fight, and fed up with the irrelevant question, Rousey finally threw a name out there – Kim Kardashian.

I would beat the crap out of Kim Kardashian, actually. Any girl who is famous and idolized because she made a sex video with some guy and that’s all she’s known for.

Why is everyone slipping it under the cover now? “Oh yeah, she’s selling Skechers to thirteen year olds.” I don’t want some girl whose entire fame is based on a sex video to be selling Skechers to my thirteen year old sister. That’s the horrible kind of role model that I really do not want to be around, why I’m doing things like this: Because girls like Kim Kardashian are being pushed in my sister’s face, and it’s just not healthy. She shouldn’t even have role models like this. And that’s why I’m doing stuff like ESPN Body, because someone needs to do it, for god sakes. (Via Cage Potato)

And therein lies the debate – is Rousey better than Kardashian, the woman she accuses of achieving fame through pornographic means, because she won some fights before she posed somewhat nude for ESPN? The answer is yes. Rousey is much better. She won a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008, and that’s significantly more difficult than leaking a video of Brandy’s brother shooting babies on her chest.

Does that mean that girls should fight other girls because they don’t like them? No. That’s where I disagree with Rousey as a role model. So as long as she keeps the hatred non-violent, Rousey is A-OK with us.

Read the rest of this entry »

Photos from the latest ESPN The Magazine Body Issue have landed, and in this year’s issue we get to see Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey in nothing but pink gloves … possibly our only chance to ever do so without being glared at and having our arms ripped off.

The Body Issue is no stranger to MMA stars in the buff, lest we forget last year’s epic Jon ‘Bones’ Jones naked and peeing into a swimming pool effort. Nobody gets it that badly this year, but some of the more bizarre highlights include a naked jockey letting a horse lick his head, a lady with no legs climbing a rope swing and nude sailboat sailing. Maybe they should change the issue topic from “bodies we want” to “bodies we want doing things we wouldn’t be photographed doing with clothes on”.

Anyway, after the jump are a few choice shots from the issue (we can’t include them all, we want you to visit ESPN for that) including Ronda’s full appearance. Naked horse-licked jockey not included.

(you’re welcome)

Read the rest of this entry »

I understand that ESPN The Magazine‘s The Body Issue looks to highlight the human body at its athletic peak, but I see no reason why Oakland Raiders placekicker Sebastian Janikowski couldn’t have kicked footballs with his shirt on. The kicking leg is impressive, but the rest of it reminded me too much of that scene in Mallrats where Michael Rooker dances out in a towel and shows his ass.

Two upsides to the video: Janikowski explaining how he became so good (“Just kick it hard as I can!”) and the reminder that Strikeforce Women’s Bantamweight Champion/”Gina Carano for real” Ronda Rousey is in there with him. Maybe they can combine the photoshoots and do a Lucy/Charlie Brown thing.

Ah well, this shoot looks at least a little better than “Shadowdick” Jose Reyes and aiming the camera right up Jon Jones’ butthole.

[h/t Sweater Punch]