‘Big’ Ben Rothwell has had quite a bit of bad luck when it comes to getting a fight booked inside the Octagon. After his opponent for this Saturday’s ‘UFC Fight Night: Dublin,’ Stipe Miocic, withdrew from the bout Rothwell attempted to get Andrei Arlovski to fill in on short notice.
Arlovski was willing to fill in, however his management talked him out of it, and into a fight with Miocic at UFC 195 in January.
Rothwell spoke to MMAJunkie to explain why he feels discouraged about not being able to book a fight against a top heavyweight.
“I’m disheartened. I just found out Andrei Arlovski’s been matched against Stipe Miocic – I’ve been wanting a fight with Andrei and I feel like there was a lot of good vibes and traction. … People wanted to see the fight because two weeks ago Stipe pulled out of the fight. Here I am, I’m in Ireland, I’m here to fight. I’m ready to go. Somehow the guy who got injured and pulled out of this fight gets the fight I’ve been asking for.
“I’m not going to talk about what’s fair, because there’s nothing fair in this sport. I can get past that. It doesn’t matter, fair or not – I’m just completely blindsided. If Andrei got matched up with someone else, fine, whatever. But to get the guy I’m supposed to fight that’s not here to fight me on Saturday? This is all getting announced and the fight (we were supposed to have) hasn’t even happened. It’s absurd.”
“I’m the guy that’s healthy calling out Andrei; isn’t that worth anything? Haven’t they been telling us for years that fighters need to call out guys? I’ve been calling out the top dudes for like the last year now, and not one of the fights that I’ve asked for has happened. I don’t get it. My frustration is obvious. I just don’t know what to think of it. I just try to hold on. Is something bigger going to happen? I just don’t see it now. The only thing that I can see now is an act of God. Like (Alistair) Overeem gets hurt and I get to fight Junior (at UFC on FOX 17 in December).”/em>
Hopefully Rothwell is able to get a fight booked ASAP! If he does, who would you like to see him fight in the Octagon?