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Gina Carano and Randy Couture will be among the 30 male and female professional athletes posing nude or semi-nude in ESPN The Magazine’s first “Body Issue,” which hits newsstands on Oct. 9.

Couture’s cauliflower ear will be the focus of his spread and Carano will be posing semi-nude in “The Bodies We Want” photo section.

“You really get an idea of everything these guys and gals go through and the toll it takes sometimes,” said Sue Hovey, the executive editor of ESPN The Magazine.

“Randy has a very interesting looking ear, known as a cauliflower ear, and I think that when you’ll see it, you’ll realize that this guy goes through a lot to do what he loves.”

Major names from the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, tennis and boxing will also be featured in the special issue, which will be released once a year. And yes, private parts will be strategically covered up.

“These athletes, they were very brave because we were asking to look at some of the more visually vulnerable places on their body,” said Gary Belsky, editor in chief of ESPN The Magazine.

Carano hasn’t been heard from much since she lost to Cris Cyborg in August. It was announced earlier this month that she will be appearing in Oscar-award winning director Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming film, Knockout.

Couture recently lost to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 102. He is scheduled to face Brandon Vera in the main event of UFC 105 on Nov. 14.

Ever since The Magazine put Chuck Liddell on its cover in May 2007, it has been consistent in shining a bit of the sports spotlight on MMA. Nice to see two of the sport’s bigger names featured in this unique issue.

Source: MMA Fanhouse

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Alex Billington did an interview with Steven Soderbergh during the Toronto Film Festival, mostly centred around his film “The Informant” which stars Matt Damon. Here’s an excerpt from the interview, where he talks about his next project with Gina Carano:

Talking a bit about Matt Damon, and I just love him in general, you work with him so much, but you also often cast unknown actresses in films like The Girlfriend Experience and yet you brought back Matt for this. I was wondering if you’ve ever considered a vice versa of that situation where you bring in someone new for a big studio feature.

Soderbergh: Well, I’m about to do that now. I’m building a whole movie around Gina Carano so I love doing that. In that case I just felt like why aren’t there more women around who can carry a gun? It seems to be a very small list and she’s really intriguing, and so the whole idea is to kind of — as we did with Sasha but on a very different scale with a very different intent. Let’s build something around her and sort of wind her in to it and take advantage of what she is and what she can do. That’s kind of fun. It can be scary and for people who are financing films it’s a sort of nervous-making proposition because there’s not a built-in movie audience for her but in this case I feel she’s actually got– she has a following and I feel like she’s someone who I think is going to emerge in some way and I feel like well, let’s be the first because if it wasn’t us, I feel like it would be somebody would be coming to her and saying, “You should be in a movie.”

Source: Firstshowing.net

All the Mixed Martial Arts world is buzzing with the recent string of stars making their way to Hollywood, picking the bright lights and minimal bruising of the silver screen over the beatdowns and bloody lips that come with the cage.

While most fighters-turned-actors have landed supporting roles (see Jackson, Quinton) or the lead in direct-to-DVD sequels (see Couture, Randy), Gina Carano is taking things one step further, landing the lead role in Academy Award winning director Steven Soderbergh’s Knockout.

When discussing this growing trend on the most recent Watch Kalib Run Cage Cast, an interesting and very plausible analogy for Carano’s career moving forward came to mind.

Is Gina Carano set to become the Dwayne Johnson of Mixed Martial Arts?

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Gina has won a starring role in the film “Knockout”. It will be directed by Academy Award winning director, Steven Soderbergh, who is best known for movies like “Sex, Lies, and Videotape”, “Erin Brockovich”, “Traffic”, and “Ocean’s Eleven”:

Director Steven Soderbergh has committed to next direct “Knockout,” a spy thriller that will mark the screen starring debut of Gina Carano, the mixed martial arts circuit fighter.

Relativity Media will fully finance, and Soderbergh plans a late January production start. Domestic distribution is expected to be locked quickly. Soderbergh locked in the film just as his Warner Bros. comedy, “The Informant!,” made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.The Matt Damon-starrer opens stateside on September 18.

Scripted by Lem Dobbs, “Knockout” casts Carano as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes. The film is a closer cousin to “La Femme Nikita” and “Kill Bill” than “Million Dollar Baby,” in that it doesn’t take place in the fight ring. Rather, Soderbergh considers the film as a flat out action film in the James Bond mold, and will shoot in locations around the world that include Ireland, Turkey and the U.S.

Honestly, this comes as a big surprise for me since I didn’t expect her to get a starring role in a movie this big so soon, considering her very limited experience and acting abilities. However, Soderbergh has been known for making stars out of bit actors like Don Cheadle, Luiz Guzman, and for (successfully) taking a chance with less experienced actors when he casted pornstar Sasha Grey in the starring role in this year’s “The Girlfriend Experience”

Source: Variety

Gina has just written a Yardbarker entry, talking about her loss:

For the people who have supported me this far

I wanted to take time to collect my thoughts and speak from the heart rather than spew out some cliché anecdote about a tough loss. I know I am a better fighter than the way I performed that night and was heartbroken to not give more to those who have been inspired. However, I find some relief in knowing that this has never been only about me, and now more than ever I feel freedom to learn and grow at my own pace. I make it a point to constantly remind myself throughout this journey who I am, what I am doing, and why. Life is the most amazing gift and I want to live it for the right reasons. To my family, coaches, management… thank you from the bottom of my heart for believing in me, loving and encouraging me. Also a special thanks to the fans who support me from their computers at home, watch me on television and scream for me in the stadiums. Because of you, barriers have been broken down and you have inspired me to believe in a larger dream. Congratulations to Cris Cyborg and the women of MMA who have a great platform to shine. I am more excited than ever for female fighters and this amazing sport which has transformed my life. God Bless.

Gina

Source: Gina’s yardbarker page

Tara Larosa and Shayna Baszler appear on Rear Naked Choke Radio with Ted from tedjoe.com. Tara and Shayna are among the top MMA fighters in the world in the female ranks, and they completely brake down the fight between Carano and Cyborg, hitting the technical aspects and also discussing what it means to woman’s MMA.

Listen here: joeted.com

Rashad Evans and Kenny Florian talk about recent news in MMA:

• brief talk about Carano vs. Cyborg fight and woman’s MMA
• when does Cyborg fight next and who’s her next opponent
• other fights on the Strikeforce card
• UFC related news
• Chuck Liddell on Dancing with the stars

*if your only interested in news related to Gina, go to 6:10

Video: espn.go.com

UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture was in Gina Carano’s corner this past Saturday as she faced the toughest opponent of her career at “Strikeforce: Carano vs. Cyborg.” Although her supermodel-face didn’t leave the cage the same way it entered, Couture is still proud of the work his protege put in despite the disappointing loss.

“I think she had some opportunities to win,” the UFC Hall of Famer said on Carano’s behalf. “It was an amazing five minutes. They made a lot of transitions, a lot of positions, and I think Gina caught Cyborg with some shots that got her attention, and obviously Gina got overwhelmed on a couple of occasions, but I think overall, she did some great things.

“This is a new experience for her, and it’s an important one, and I expect she’s going to come out the other side a stronger and better athlete for what she’s going through right now.”

Carano entered the highly anticipated title fight against Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos as a 2-to-1 underdog, so it wasn’t groundbreaking news that she didn’t take the belt back to Vegas with her. However, it was surprising to most that she put up legit resistance, even landing in top position two times during their cat fight.

“The gameplan was to use her combinations and her footwork,” said Couture of his strategy for Carano. “Stick and move and try to make Cyborg keep up with her and find her. Obviously, they ended up in a couple of firefights that she really didn’t need to be in, but it’s hard when somebody hits you, not to stand and try to hit them back. It’s understandable.”

Carano definitely got herself in situations that she should have avoided, however she fought valiantly against the cream of the crop when it comes to women’s mixed martial arts.

Couture said he expects Carano back sooner rather than later, so that’s good news. But most importantly Randy, how’s that pretty face looking?

“She’s fine, no injuries,” said Couture of Carano, whose record now drops to 7-1. “A little scuffed up, but not bad. I think she takes a week or so to recover, let the dust settle, and get together and figure out what her next move is. Who her next fight’s gonna be, when her next fight’s gonna be, and when she’s gonna get back into the training cycle.”

Article: 5thRound.com

The CSAC (California State Athletic Commission) has released fighter salary information for the Strikeforce “Cyborg vs Carano” event. Gina Carano becomes the first female MMA fighter in history to make six-figures in her loss against Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos:

MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS

• Cristiane Santos $25,000 (includes $5,000 win bonus) def. Gina Carano $125,000

MAIN CARD FIGHTERS

• Gegard Mousasi $2,000 def. Renato Sobral $75,000
• Gilbert Melendez $50,000 def. Mitsuhiro Ishida $30,000
• Fabricio Werdum $50,000 (includes $25,000 win bonus) def. Mike Kyle $14,000
• Jay Hieron $55,000 (includes $30,000 win bonus) def. Jesse Taylor $12,000

PRELIMINARY CARD FIGHTERS

• Scott Lighty $4,000 def. Mike Cook $2,500
• Justin Wilcox $5,000 (includes $2,500 win bonus) def. David Douglas $5,500
• James Terry $6,000 (includes $3,000 win bonus) def. Zak Bucia $2,000
• Alex Trevino $3,500 (includes $1,500 win bonus) def. Isaiah Hill $2,00