Ben Rothwell has had two cracks at Andrei Arlovski in his career. He’s got a sneaking suspicion the third time could be the charm.
Arlovski in 2008 knocked out Rothwell in the third round of their heavyweight fight at the Affliction: Banned event. Nearly 11 years to the exact day later – off by just a day – they fought in the UFC, and Arlovski took a unanimous decision in San Antonio.
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That 2019 loss to Arlovski was Rothwell’s third straight at the time – and still stands as the only losing skid in an MMA career that exceeded 50 pro fights and a 9-8 record in the UFC. And though he hasn’t been back in the cage in more than four years, it’s because of the transition he made to bareknuckle boxing.
Rothwell, at 4-0 in the sport, is BKFC’s heavyweight champion and in February will meet Arlovski for the first time in that rule set – in which he thinks he’ll have the advantage.
“He got the decision that night (in the UFC in our rematch), but I know that give me another round – or give me just another minute – and I’m pretty sure I had that fight won,” Rothwell told MMA Junkie Radio. “It doesn’t matter. He’s got two wins against me, and with all that said and done, he got those on me. Those were major events for both of us, and they helped him out in his career.
“But of all those three fights, this is the biggest one. And if there’s one that I need to win, it’s this one. This is the one that sets up how I get to finish my career. There’s a lot at stake after this fight. The pressure’s still there, and I’ve got a lot to prove to him, too.”
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Arlovski won the UFC’s heavyweight title in 2005 and defended it twice. He went 34-24 in a 25-year MMA career, including 23-18 in the UFC – the most heavyweight wins in the promotion’s history. His name is littered throughout the UFC’s heavyweight record books.
But in their BKFC fight, Rothwell is banking on the fact he only has to prepare for Arlovski’s hands. Since he left the UFC in 2024 on a four-fight skid, Arlovski has three 2025 wins under the Dirty Boxing banner, Misfits Boxing and, in June, a BKFC win over Josh Copeland.
“Bareknuckle’s a different beast,” Rothwell said. “Andrei, in our fights, he landed some kicks, he landed some takedowns. He can’t do any of that. He literally has to deal with the most dangerous two weapons on the planet right now – (my hands) – and I’m going to show you what I mean.”
The setup for the rest of his career that Rothwell mentioned is the potential to have a spot in a proposed BKFC tournament with a planned $15 million for the winner. Rothwell would have to win five fights in the space of roughly a year – and he thinks that might be the perfect way to hang things up.
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But he’s not allowing any real thought of that until after his trilogy bout with Arlovski. Then he can think about how to blitz through five opponents with quick turnaround times that mean he can just train his hands, easing some of the mental burden of the fight game.
“The UFC did that to me the most – giving me the anxiety, making me nervous, thinking about all the different things: the kicks, the takedowns, the this, the submissions, all the things that are going to happen when you think about all of it,” Rothwell said. “In bareknuckle, I got to wipe the slate clean. I’m just like, ‘I’m going to go in there and f*cking smash somebody.’ And as you can see, I’ve been performing pretty well.”
BKFC: KnuckleMania 6 takes place Feb. 7 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ben Rothwell on Andrei Arlovski, BKFC tournament possibilities
