UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey seems determined on becoming a household name, assuming she isn’t one already, and a new high-profile fashion campaign certainly can’t hurt the cause.
Lifestyle brand David Bitton announced Thursday that the “Rowdy” one will be the female face of Buffalo Pro—which will focus on the brand’s “sports-minded consumer,” as MMA Fighting first reported.
In a prepared statement, Rousey voiced her excitement about the new opportunity:
It’s such an amazing opportunity to be able to represent Buffalo Pro. Not only am I the first female they’ve ever had representing the campaign, but it’s the first time any MMA fighter has done any type of fashion thing at all. I feel really honored to be taking the first steps into this industry. I never had the confidence when I was younger to dress well, and avoided any type of fashion and femininity, and I’m enjoying the chance to embrace it at this point in my life.
Rousey certainly had no problem embracing her feminine side in her first Buffalo Pro photo shoot, where she posed for a few racy topless photos.
“Today’s shoot, the concept is very like feminine and sexy, very different than a lot of the stuff that I do a lot of the time,” she explained in the behind-the-scenes video posted on YouTube one week ago.
Rousey, who starred in this past summer’s Expendables 3, will have a bigger silver-screen presence in 2015 when she appears in Entourage and Fast & Furious 7.
Still, for the time being, the 27-year-old former Olympic-level Judoka’s full-time job is as a UFC fighter, with the unbeaten champion (10-0) still awaiting a true test inside the cage.
After defending her title three times between December 2013 and July of this year, Rousey has earned a little more time off than usual before fighting Cat Zingano at UFC 184 in February.
Given her growing level of success outside of fighting, how much longer will the UFC be able to keep Rousey on the roster?
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
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