Ben Rothwell is no longer a member of the UFC roster.

Rothwell was scheduled to fight Alexander Gustafsson at heavyweight on May 21. However, on Thursday it was revealed by algorithm-based Twitter account UFC Roster Watch that ‘Big Ben’ was removed from the fan rankings pool. MMAFighting then confirmed with the promotion that the UFC decided to release Rothwell.

It is definitely strange that Rothwell was let go, especially considering he had a fight booked. ‘Big Ben’ and his manager did not respond to comment from any outlet regarding his release. There is also currently no replacement to face Gustafsson in just under two months’ time.

Ben Rothwell (39-14) is coming off a 32-second TKO loss to Marcos Rogerio de Lima back in November. Prior to that, he beat Chris Barnett by submission but is just 3-4 in his last seven with his other two wins over Stefan Struve by TKO and Ovince Saint Preux by split decision. His losses during this skid came against Junior dos Santos, Blagoy Ivanov, and Andrei Arlovski, with all coming by decision including the bout against ‘JDS’ being the main event.

Rothwell started out his MMA career back in 2001 and was 30-6 before he made his UFC debut which took place at UFC 104 where he suffered a TKO loss to Cain Velasquez. Prior to signing with the UFC, he fought for IFL and Affliction. In his career, he holds notable wins over Josh Barnett, Alistair Overeem, Brandon Vera, and Brendan Schaub. He went 9-8 in the UFC and only headlined the one card against dos Santos in 2016.

Alexander Gustafsson (18-7) is on a three-fight skid and hasn’t fought since he suffered a submission loss to Fabricio Werdum in July of 2020 in his UFC heavyweight debut. With Rothwell being released from the promotion, it’s uncertain if he will remain on the May 21 card.

Are you surprised that Ben Rothwell has been released from the UFC?