Ronda Rousey Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, check out all the stunning photos

By Staff Reporter - 11 Feb '15 01:15AM

UFC champion Ronda Rousey has joined an illustrious list of athletes to grace the pages of the iconic Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. The 2015 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue will be released on Tuesday, February 10.

Not only does Rousey join past athletes like Amanda Beard, Jennie Finch, Venus Williams and Danica Patrick, she's also the first mixed martial artist to appear in the magazine. It's a huge breakthrough for her and the sport.

"I hope that the impression that everyone that sees the next Sports Illustrated swimsuit is that strong and healthy is the new sexy," she revealed in a behind-the-scenes video just released on the magazine's website. "[Also] that the standard of women's bodies is going into a realistic and socially healthy direction."

Good morning ☀️ @si_swimsuit

A photo posted by rondarousey (@rondarousey) on Feb 10, 2015 at 8:45am PST

Ronda Rousey is proud and excited for the release of the the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition. She has been sharing photos from the shoot on her Instagram account throughout the week.

pretending I know WuShu ... @gfc_diamond's first comment was "you'd get deducted points because your hands are wrong" @si_swimsuit A photo posted by rondarousey (@rondarousey) on Feb 9, 2015 at 4:03pm PST

"The media directed at men with women is what women pay attention to the most. When it came to what standard I gave myself growing up and what I thought that I should look like, I was looking at the women that I could see the men I wanted found attractive," Rousey said. "I thought if this is what the guys I like like, then I should look like that. The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue wasn't like Playboy or all those others. It wasn't so fake and plastic."

"They always seemed to use a lot more real women and as the years have gone on, I think that has increased and really affected how people perceive women and what they should look like. They use all kinds of body types and use real women, not genetic freakish gazelles of people that look beautiful, but it's a very small percentage of the population that looks like that."