Los Angeles, CA – Ben Rothwell’s night at BKFC KnuckleMania 4 was over awfully quick, as after dropping fellow UFC alum Todd Duffee, an apparent injury put a halt to the action.
For a fight with considerable build-up that had been rescheduled once previously, it was a bit anti-climactic, even for Rothwell, despite earning a TKO win and apparent title shot.
Asked about what had delayed the bout, “beating a dead horse here, I got sick. And Todd questioned it, he made a lot of remarks about Thanksgiving dinner taking me out, questioned if I was ducking him, things of this nature,” Rothwell told media outlets including Cageside Press following KnuckleMania 4 in Los Angeles on Saturday.
“I’ve been doing this for 20-something years, I’m a professional. I kind of laughed,” added Rothwell, despite the fact that “I still sensed that he really thought that.”
The doubts on the part of Duffee, who lasted less than a round on Saturday, were added motivation for Rothwell, on top of a potential shot at the BKFC heavyweight title.
“I really picked it up, because I wanted to come in and I really had something to prove to him.”
Duffee had also questioned whether Rothwell would make weight ahead of the fight, which seems to have motivated “Big” Ben as well. “Well, I showed up at 275 on Friday. And it’s funny, because not all the guys were there at noon on the dot to weigh in. I was, and Todd was. And Todd was there to watch me weigh in. So I was like, right then and there, I knew I was in his head. And when he’d seen the scale and seen me flex at 275, I seen that I was definitely in his head quite a bit. That’s part of the game, it’s a mental game, you’ve got to be tough and you’ve got to not care about such nonsense.”
Aside from his opponent, Rothwell took umbrage with another fighter at KnuckleMania 4, Lorenzo Hunt, who came up short in a heavyweight title bid on Saturday. Hunt had been talking about A-side an B-sides ahead of the event, with “Big” Ben apparently labeled the latter. “I don’t give a f*ck what side of the table- put me under the table, put me back there, I don’t care. I am what I am. Made up numbers, A-side, B-side, that’s the kind of sh*t that you’ve got to get out of your head. Unfortunately it didn’t go his way. I think all these kind of things add up. A lot of times I’m not the vocal type before a fight, because I’m so focused.”
All that focus and motivation to put on a show, however, also left Rothwell feeling a little let down when all was said and done. “That’s why I was so disappointed. Because I had a lot to show, and I didn’t get to show it,” he explained. “That’s how I feel.”
Of course, Duffee being injured is out of Ben Rothwell’s control. And he’ll have a chance to show it all again, hopefully soon. While no date is set, Rothwell is likely the next opponent for BKFC heavyweight champ Mick Terrell.
“It’s going to be a great fight. I can tell,” Rothwell said of the match-up, noting that he may have dismissed Terrell prematurely in the past, and has seen improvement more recently. Which has Rothwell himself excited. “I’m bringing it. All that really happened tonight is, I’m turning it up, and I’m going to bring the best version [of myself] I’ve ever brought into a combat sport.”
Watch the full BKFC KnuckleMania 4 post-fight press conference with Ben Rothwell above.
