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The UFC surprised a lot of people in March when they announced that longtime heavyweight Ben Rothwell had been released from the promotion. Rothwell had been scheduled to fight former light heavyweight contender Alexander Gustafsson, so his removal from the roster left a lot of unanswered questions.
On the latest episode of The MMA Hour, Rothwell explained exactly what happened. He said:
"The truth is the [Gustafsson] fight got brought to us in January and there was an announcement going around. Me and my management sat back and were like 'Well, it's the last fight on our deal, what comes next, what do we do?' So we went to the UFC and said 'Are we gonna sign something or get something done ahead of this fight?' Because in my mind I've been seeing the landscape and my timing and the big picture."
"They let go of some of the big heavyweights and stuff, and I'm like even if I go in and perform well, knock out Gustafsson in the first round, look great, what's going to happen next. And they came back and said 'Let's see what happens after this fight.' And we talked about it and kind of suspected that was kind of the answer which left the door open on 'Go out and win, great, we're going to let you go anyways.'"
Ben Rothwell and his team felt like they were being pushed out so why delay the inevitable. He said:
"So I didn't like that and we asked for our release in February. I asked ... I only have so many fights left and this fight was just a fight to make more money. Gustafsson is a name but he's 0-3 and this fight is just a fight ... So we asked for our release ... We had a good thirteen years of being a professional fighter making a living off fighting. Getting to do something I loved. And they granted it to us, and now I get to hit the market."
Watch the full interview with Ben Rothwell on The MMA Hour below:
Ben Rothwell has now signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship
Ben Rothwell wasn't on The MMA Hour to explain his departure but to announce his new home. He's now signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship. He said:
“BKFC came with the best offer, made me very excited. I believe that it’s the place for me because I was doing bare knuckle long before MMA. It’s something that’s part of my life, something my great grandfather was doing, probably not legally, but had a history of it. It’s something that’s in my blood.”
Ben Rothwell doesn't have a fight scheduled with BKFC just yet but expects to compete in the next few months for his new promotion.
