Fighter Profile: Ben Rothwell
Overall Record: 30-6 (17 KO)
Height: 6’5” Weight: 265
Hometown: Kenosha, Washington
Age: 27
“Big” Ben Rothwell is a nine year veteran of mixed martial arts, recently signing to debut in the heavyweight division for the UFC. Rothwell, born and raised in the state of Washington, trains and fights in Iowa at Miletich Martial Arts as well as with Duke Roufas MMA in Milwaukee. Primarily a heavy-handed striker, Rothwell is also competent as a grappler, wrestler, and jiu-jitsu practitioner.
“Big” Ben began his professional career over eight years ago on the Freestyle Fighting Combat organization, defeating his opponent by TKO in just 21 seconds. Rothwell found his groove, winning 11 of 12 to start his career, losing only to Tim Sylvia in August 2001. After winning bouts for such organizations as the FCC, Dangerzone, Iowa Challenge, Extreme Challenge, Silverback Challenge, and Superbrawl, Rothwell landed on uneven ground in his career by losing four of his next nine fights.
His up and down career continued in September 2005 when “Big Ben” won thirteen straight, including nine in a row for the team-oriented International Fight League. The IFL is where Rothwell began to gain recognition as a top-ten heavyweight fighter, defeating the UFC’s Krzysztof Soszynski twice, as well as Roy Nelson and Ricco Rodriguez once each. During his IFL stint, Rothwell was one of the organizations’ busiest fighters, competing nine times in less than a year and a half.
When the IFL closed their doors early in 2008, their fighters scattered in different directions. Some went the Zuffa route, signing to either the WEC or the UFC, while others agreed to fight for the upstart promotion Affliction, who seemed to have a great deal of financial backing. Rothwell chose the latter, deciding to take a fight with former UFC heavyweight champion, Andrei Arlovski on the first ever Affliction show, Affliction Banned, which took place July 2008.
Rothwell, trying to keep his long-standing winning streak alive, fought hard and hung tough for 2½ rounds. During the second minute of the heavyweight bout, Arlovski stunned, and then knocked Rothwell out, using his technical punching ability. The loss was his first in two years and five months.
> Find a great selection of UFC shirts & merchandise, and browse the great selection of UFC tickets available online through Pro Fighting Fans!
Rothwell was back in action five months later fighting for manager, Monte Cox’s Adrenaline MMA organization. The December event was the promotions’ second and took place at the “I Wireless Center” in Moline, Illinois. Rothwell looked refreshed, dropping his opponent Chris Guillen and making him quit after connecting with several unanswered elbows to the face. Guillen officially was submitted at the 3:40 mark of the very 1st round, giving Rothwell his first win outside of the IFL in 3½ years.
The Wisconsin native was scheduled to continue his Affliction career this summer on the Affliction: Trilogy card against undefeated (6-0, 2 KO) Gladiators Challenge veteran, Chase Gormley. However, when the organization ceased operations, the bout was temporarily cancelled then later transferred to the UFC 104 card in October after both fighters’ contracts were acquired. More shuffling took place, and now Rothwell will challenge dangerous wrestler/striker Cain Velasquez at the same event, serving as co-main event participants.
In order to be successful, Rothwell must be patient with the AKA fighter and use his experience to out-smart Velasquez. With the wrestling and jiu-jitsu advantage going to Velasquez, Rothwell will have to confront his opponent with his striking. Velasquez, in his last bout, showed deficiencies in his striking game; consistently losing the stand-up battle to Cheick Kongo at UFC 99. With a victory against a top five UFC heavyweight such as Velasquez, Rothwell will immediately vault his name into the conversation as a top contender in the heavyweight division.
Recent Ben Rothwell MMA News:
- August 2009 – Lost to Cain Velasquez in the co-main event at UFC 104 in Los Angeles, CA - UFC 104 results
By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer
Published September 2009
Photo courtesy of UFC, Video by Scott Dryden of ProFighting-fans.com