Ronda Rousey: MMA Star's ESPN Photos Make for Perfect Combo of Brawn and Beauty

Ronda Rousey isn't exactly a household name, but she's well on her way to becoming one after her photo shoot with ESPN The Magazine's Body Issue.

That's not the only reason why she finds herself in the headlines from time to time, though.

The MMA Strikeforce star is undefeated through five professional fights, winning each contest in the first-round submission via armbar. Four of her five fights haven't lasted longer than one minute in the ring.

We seldom see this stark contrast in female athletes, or athletes in general for that matter.

Most female athletes who pose for photos similar to Rousey's ESPN photos don't indulge in a competition where the main goal is to physically destroy the opponent.

Daniela Hantuchova is one of the female athletes featured in the issue, but she's a tennis player. Tennis is portrayed more so as a elegant sport. At the very least, it is considered more graceful than MMA fighting.

Abby Wambach is another headliner in this issue. By no means is soccer a non-contact sport, but the aspects of the game are much less brutal than MMA.

Suzann Pettersen and Anna Tunnicliffe's respective professions are the antithesis of a contact sport. You can find Pettersen on the links in the LPGA, while Tunnicliffe is known for her abilities in sailing.

Rousey is in a class of her own in the latest Body Issue. 

Not only is she an attractive, charismatic woman, she beats people up for a living. Hantuchova hits tennis balls, Wambach presides over the U.S. women's national team, Pettersen sails, but Rousey physically beats her opponents to a pulp.

It's great to see a woman who isn't scared to have a muscular body, especially at a time when so many young women of the generation are battling issues such as anorexia and bulimia. 

Rousey told ESPN The Magazine this in an interview:

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"Women don't have to trade their femininity for athleticism. I can be a fighter and be tough yet still retain my femininity. I want people to know you don't have to look like an anorexic 8-year-old to be a beautiful woman."

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Many women believe that they cannot have a physically strong body like Rousey's, while still looking good. Rousey is doing her best to shatter that belief with what she is doing inside the ring and out of it.

She has found a perfect middle ground that many have yet to find.

It certainly didn't come easy, but Rousey has become the perfect combination of brawn and beauty.