Ben Rothwell recently made an appearance on The MMA Hour following his first round submission win over Matt Mitrione at UFC Fight Night 68. Big Ben said he felt disappointed that UFC president Dana White was not in attendance in New Orleans and felt kind of ‘gypped’ about Joe Rogan’s absence from the commentary booth, too:
“I felt gypped. Dana White wasn’t there, Joe Silva wasn’t there, I felt gypped. Joe Rogan wasn’t there. These fights were a big deal, and the three stars of the UFC weren’t even there. I kind of felt gypped,” Rothwell said on The MMA Hour.
Jon Anik and Brian Stann provided commentary for the event while Dana White will be in attendance for the blockbuster UFC 188 pay-per-view on Saturday. Rothwell continued by discussing his poor relationship with the UFC president and how he’s eager to attend the UFC fan expo next month:
“I just wanna talk to him,” Rothwell said. “I talked to Joe Silva, and Joe Silva said it’s even hard for him to talk to Dana White. Dana White is a bigger star than all of us, I don’t think he has time for us. I don’t think he even watches UFC. It’s funny.”
“I want to talk to Dana White because I want to be at the UFC Fan Expo. I’m looking at the list and seeing these people and I don’t even know who they are. You’ve got the champions coming, you’ve got the veterans, Matt Hughes and Chuck Liddell, awesome. Then there’s a group of people who are signing and I don’t even know who they are. Really? I want to be there for the fans. They’re trying to get autographs.
“Social media’s awesome,” Rothwell continued. “But being able to shake hands and sign autographs feels a lot more to me. I’d like to get some of those opportunities. UFC Fan Expo is a great place to be, but UFC kind of doesn’t give a s— about me.”
The 14-year MMA veteran feels his words were taken out of context by the media and cleared things up earlier today on Twitter:
” @mmamania @danawhite ok let’s clear this up, @ufc is very cool to me and treats me well, this was blown out of context
— Big Ben Rothwell (@RothwellFighter) June 10, 2015
After making short work of Matt Mitrione last Saturday, Rothwell delivered a villainous post-fight speech declaring his claim to the heavyweight throne. Before the 265-pounder acquires promotional gold, Rothwell would like to avenge his loss to Andrei Arlovski. The two heavyweights duked it out under the Affliction banner in 2008 which saw Arlovski eventually earn the knockout in the third round.
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