“Rowdy” Roddy Piper was a huge influence on UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
Over his lengthy career in professional wrestling, Piper trained under Rousey’s mentor, “Judo” Gene Lebell, with regularity. Years later, Rousey came along and trained with the martial arts legend as well.
When Rousey eventually made the jump to professional MMA after earning a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rousey asked Piper if she could use his namesake “Rowdy” as her own.
Piper signed off on it, and the rest is history.
Hours before Rousey was set to weigh in for this weekend’s UFC 190 pay-per-view, news broke that Piper had passed away due to cardiac arrest.
With an undoubtedly heavy heart, and eyeing down a title fight against Bethe Correia in less than 24 hours, Rousey shared a touching message via social media dedicating her fight to “Hot Rod.”
“Thank you for the name,” the message said, “and so much more. “Will do it justice and do you proud tomorrow... This one's for you Roddy..."
Piper, whose real name was Roderick Toombs, was elected to the WWE Hall of Fame in 2005. One of the finest ‘heels’ professional wrestling has ever known, Piper’s feud with Hulk Hogan in the early 80’s is largely considered one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the business.
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