Ben Rothwell will make his bare-knuckle boxing debut with BKFC later this year when he battles Bobo O’Bannon.<\/p>\n
The man known as ‘Big Ben’ was released by the Ultimate Fighting Championship<\/a> earlier this year ahead of a proposed match-up against Alexander Gustafsson<\/a>, noting the following during an interview with Ariel Helwani.<\/p>\n \u201cWe asked for our release in February,\u201d Rothwell said. \u201cI said I\u2019ve only got so many fights, and this fight was just a fight to make money. What is it really going to do if I fight Gustafsson, who is a name, but he\u2019s 0-3 [in his last three fights] and the fight is just a fight. It\u2019s a fight to make money, and I\u2019ve only got so many fights left in me to make money.<\/p>\n \u201cWe just asked for our release, and they said there was a period going back and forth \u2013 I think it caught them off surprise if anything. I\u2019ve been with them for 13 years. So they granted it to us and they didn\u2019t have to. So I have nothing bad to say. I\u2019ve had a good 13 years being a professional fighter, making my living off of fighting, getting to do something I love and they granted it to us.\u201d<\/p>\n Quotes via MMA Fighting<\/i><\/p>\n Now, in a report confirmed by MMA Fighting<\/a>, Rothwell’s BKFC debut has been confirmed to take place on October 1 against Bobo O\u2019Bannon.<\/p>\n Ben Rothwell meets Bobo O\u2019Bannon in Oct. 1 BKFC debut (@MMAFightingSM<\/a>) https:\/\/t.co\/lb0ylCOBwc<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/V6T3j4n6iu<\/a><\/p>\n — MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) September 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n