‘Big’ Ben Rothwell made it look easy in his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut on Saturday night.
Rothwell made his promotional debut a memorable one at BKFC 30, live from the Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, LA. The former UFC heavyweight standout faced the 2-2 O’Bannon in his highly-anticipated first appearance inside the squared circle. Rothwell came out immediately throwing combinations that pushed O’Bannon back to the ropes. From there, ‘The King of Kenosha’ landed a massive left uppercut that dropped O’Bannon. Unable to answer the referee’s 10-count, the bout was stopped just 19-seconds into the opening round.
Big Ben Rothwell still got hands pic.twitter.com/ZmIfEC4DmX
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) October 2, 2022
Ben Rothwell Puts the BKFC Heavyweight Division on Notice
Following his brutal knockout of O’Bannon in his first BKFC outing, Ben Rothwell put the rest of the heavyweight division on notice.
“I said I was going to put the heavyweights on notice, but I believe there’s actually more questions now. That didn’t show it and I need everyone if you’re a fan, to let Dave Feldman know and the BKFC know that you want to see what I can really do and as soon as possible. To every heavyweight out there watching, you need to know, you have seen nothing yet.”
Big Ben Rothwell at 292lb won his #BKFC debut and put all the big boys on notice!! pic.twitter.com/mnqYfMLH2u
— munchnews (@MUNCHmma) October 2, 2022
Ben Rothwell joined BKFC after 12 years with the UFC. During that time, he earned notable victories over Brendan Schaub, Brandon Vera, Alistair Overeem, Matt Mitrione, Josh Barnett, and Ovince St. Preaux. Overall, he went 9-8 in his UFC career with seven wins by way of finish.