Ben Rothwell experienced the worst weight cut of his fighting career just before flattening Mick Terrill to win the Bare Knuckle FC heavyweight championship.
Ben Rothwell needed one punch to knock out Mick Terrill for the Bare Knuckle FC heavyweight belt last weekend in Philadelphia. The former UFC contender has found a home in the BKFC ring, moving to 4-0 in his bare-knuckle career with the knockout win over Terrill.
It was another statement win for Rothwell, who will now begin his tenure as a world champion despite being in the latter stages of his career. After defeating Terrill, Rothwell could potentially be on the verge of a big-name fight as the BKFC continues to lure top heavyweight talents from other promotions.
But in the lead-up to his title win at BKFC KnuckleMania 5, Rothwell was on the verge of potentially pulling out of the event due to a botched weight cut. In what he’s described as the toughest camp of his fighting career, Rothwell had to lose 31lbs in mere hours ahead of fight night.
After the sharp cut, it didn’t take long for Rothwell to regain the weight, but it was a scary predicament for the heavyweight vet.
- READ MORE: What happened to Shara Magomedov’s eye? Injury that left UFC star blind in one eye explained
Ben Rothwell details nightmare weight cut before BKFC title win
During a recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Rothwell explained what went wrong ahead of his chilling knockout.
“Honestly, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” “306 [pounds at the beginning of the week], 275 [pounds[ on the dot so it was a 31 pound weight cut. I’m just around 300 pounds a lot, that’s where I’m at now. Not to make excuses, but I have two very young children, and to keep my family together, I have to help. So that is its own stress outside [fighting]…
“And I pulled it off, I did it. Kept my family together and I won a BKFC title, so there was all that going on.”
Rothwell went on to reveal that he called nutritionist George Lockhart, who has worked with the likes of Conor McGregor and Tyson Fury, for help just two weeks before the BKFC event. He credits Lockhart for helping him not only cut the weight safely and successfully but to win the coveted BKFC heavyweight championship.
- READ MORE: Jeremy Stephens rips Eddie Alvarez’s friends and family after breaking his jaw in brutal BKFC KO
Ben Rothwell continues unblemished weight-cutting record
BKFC has a 275lb weight limit for heavyweights, 10lbs heavier than the UFC’s limit for its largest athletes. Some, including Joe Rogan, have called for the UFC to end heavyweight weight limits in favor of creating an openweight division.
Rothwell has never missed weight in his decorated combat sports career. Before making the full-time transition to bare-knuckle fighting, Rothwell defeated top UFC names like Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, and Josh Barnett in his heavyweight MMA tenure.
Luckily, Rothwell was able to escape potential disaster ahead of one of the biggest fights of his life last weekend. As the BKFC heavyweight champion begins his reign, Rothwell likely learned a lot of brutal lessons after the worst weight-cutting process of his career.