Well, there are a number of ways you could go about this.
FIRST thing I would do, is check out the VIP UV texturing tut by Craig! That will give you a GREAT start, and perfect theory on how to texture in Maya.
Another idea off the top of my head is that you could position a 2D ramp texture so that the white portion of a ramp is over the belly area of your , ur, belly hehe...
Give Craigs video tut a look, you'll learn a LOT! ...I did
Israel "Izzy" Long
Motion and Title Design for Broadcast-Film-DS
izzylong.com