“Rowdy” Ronda Rousey, “Rowdy” Roddy Piper, and UFC 190
UFC 190 was the event, which took place at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Correia’s home country.
In case you’ve somehow not heard by now, Rousey’s proclivity for dominance was amplified as trash talking on Correia’s part made things personal.
Back in May Correia gave an interview to the Brazilian press wherein she said, of her intentions for Rousey, “I want to demoralize her, show the world she has no MMA game.” Adding, “She doesn’t have a good mindset, she needs to get help. There are a lot of people around her, because she is winning, when she realizes she is not all that, I don’t even know what could happen. I hope she doesn’t commit suicide.”
Rousey’s father killed himself when Ronda was 8-years old, and she perceived the comment as a direct reference to this tragedy. The following exchange transpired on Twitter, wherein Correia contritely swore no knowledge of this. But the line was already crossed.
“I said the exact same thing she was saying to me at weigh-ins, you know she was screaming in my face at weigh-ins,” Rousey said in a post-fight interview.”She was saying, ‘Don’t cry.’ So, I turned around to her after I knocked her out and said, ‘Don’t cry.’”
Ronda dedicated Saturday’s victory to professional wrestling legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper from whom she borrowed — with Piper’s permission and blessing — her nickname, “Rowdy.” Piper passed away, at age 61, on Thursday night.
In a tribute posted to Instagram on Friday Rousey wrote, under a picture of Piper, “Thank you for the name. And so much more. Will do it justice and do you proud tomorrow. This one’s for you Roddy.”
