According to a Feb. 19 report from Yahoo! Sports, there has been a lot of talk about Liz Carmouche's sexual orientation in the lead-up to UFC 157.
Carmouche, 29, is a lesbian and served in the Marines when the "Don't ask, don't tell," policy was in effect.
"There was a constant fear I'd be outed," Carmouche said. "It made it so hard. It was one of the most difficult things I've been through."
That said, it's not much of a surprise that Carmouche's sexual orientation has been a juicy storyline leading up to her UFC 157 fight against Rousey.
"I don't know if it's a matter of her using the position she has now to let everybody know," Invicta FC President Shannon Knapp said. "I think it's more about just saying to the world, 'I'm comfortable with who I am, and with my sexuality.' She's very comfortable in her own skin. She's not, in my opinion, trying to make a statement. She's never been a person who pushes it. She's comfortable with who she is. The world isn't always that accepting and so that can't be an easy thing. But she's saying, 'I'm Liz Carmouche. I'm fighting. I'm comfortable with who I am. This is me.'"
AfterEllen.com writer Ali Davis also weighed in on what Carmouche's arrival into the UFC means for the gay and lesbian community.
"She's so level-headed, and so great," Davis said of Carmouche. "I think she'll help because she lets them know that you can be gay in lots of different ways. She's such an even-keel person. The great thing about Liz's reception is that it's been so normal. She happens to be this great fighter who has accomplished so much, but she's so normal and open and easy-going."
But with all the talk about Carmouche's sexual orientation, not much has been said about the leaked photos of Rousey smiling as an unknown woman attempts to bite her belt off in a seemingly sexual manner.
Rousey hasn't publicly addressed the photo, and her PR team seems to have swept it under the rug. Is the photo just a case of Rousey joking around with a friend, or does it prove that the star judoka has a sexual interest in women?
No one can be quite sure unless Rousey addresses the matter.
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