RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 01: (L-R) Ronda Rousey of the United States celebrates her knock out victory over Bethe Correia of Brazil in the first round in their UFC women's bantamweight championship bout during the UFC 190 event inside HSBC Arena on August 1, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
Ronda Rousey was already ultra-motivated going into her UFC 190 main event against Bethe Correia, but losing her close friend "Rowdy" Roddy Piper just 24-hours out from her title defense only raised the stakes.
Piper grew up under the tutelage of Gene LeBell -- the same coach who helped discover Rousey when she was rising up the ranks in Judo competitions.
Years later when Rousey was about to make her push into mixed martial arts, LeBell asked his old friend Piper if she could use his "Rowdy" nickname inside the cage.
Piper gave his blessing and "Rowdy" Ronda Rousey was born.
Following her 34-second knockout over Correia on Saturday night, Rousey wasted no time paying homage to her fallen friend.
"I just want to say we lost a really close friend, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, who gave me permission to use his name as a fighter, so I hope him and my dad had a good time watching this today," Rousey said.
Rousey certainly lived up to her nickname on Saturday night with another lightning-fast finish, moving her record to 12-0 overall with her last four fights ending in just 130 seconds total.
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