Even in a UFC heavyweight division renowned for its weirdness, Ben Rothwell stands apart.
Set aside for a moment his late career swing into wizarding. Long before Rothwell went public with his commitment to the dark arts, he was a fairly unique figure in the 265-pound landscape.
The fact that his fight against Junior Dos Santos on Sunday at UFC Fight Night 86 might give Rothwell a chance to secure his claim to No. 1-contender status is impressive in its own right.
Once you consider that he may as well also be fighting for all the people who feel like they don’t fit in—even in the wild and wooly world of MMA—it becomes doubly so.
It took Rothwell nearly 40 professional fights before he made it to the Octagon. By the time he arrived, hardcore fans already knew him as the lumbering Wisconsin knockout artist who’d cut a wide swath through old-school promotions like Extreme Challenge, Superbrawl and the International Fight League.
But could he hang on the sport’s biggest stage?
The misgivings about Rothwell were as well-traveled and longstanding as his own career. The guy didn’t exactly look the part, and during the first half of his UFC run he let down against high-profile opponents like Cain Velasquez, Andrei Arlovski and Mark Hunt. It seemed as though he was destined to be an also-ran and an awkward one at that.
Fast forward to 2016 and Rothwell has righted the ship, but suspicions still linger. Maybe he’s been around the block so many times that spectators and promoters alike have had the chance to doubt nearly every aspect of his game.
But at least some of that might finally change for good if he can beat Dos Santos.
Currently, perhaps the thing his UFC bosses doubt most about Rothwell is his marketability. A win this weekend, however, would give him an in-cage resume few could quibble over.
His current win streak stands at four fights, most recently including a second-round choke-out of submission ace Josh Barnett in April. It was the first time in Barnett’s own 42-fight MMA career that he’d tapped to a concession hold, and it made for a nice feather in the cap of Rothwell—further evidence he’s sneakily become one of the more rounded fighters in his division.
The crowning jewel of this current run, however, was Rothwell’s first-round TKO victory over Alistair Overeem in September 2014. Once, Overeem fairly perfectly embodied what UFC brass appears to value in its heavyweight stars: big muscles, low-key interviews.
Rothwell is basically the opposite of that, and seeing him topple the Reem was a feel-good moment for everybody who likes to cheer for the little guy.
Even when the little guy is, you know, enormous.
Rothwell stands 6’4”, 265 pounds, but sports what might most accurately be described as a “man on the street” build. Sometimes, he dons a floor-length black cloak. He cuts promos straight out of Sin City. Occasionally, he chortles like an ogre after victories.
Big Ben’s public persona veers toward zany, with a side order of nerdiness thrown in for good measure. His dark sorcerer routine just flat doesn’t fit the mold of what the UFC has promoted in its heavyweights in the past.
In some ways, he feels like a throwback to the bygone days when PrideFC was a major player in the market. The Japanese organization was heavier on the theatrics than the UFC and ultimately more accessible to fans who wouldn’t describe themselves as “Face the Pain” types.
Like most of the people who consume the UFC’s product, Rothwell isn’t going to win any beach-body competitions. On the other hand, his recent collection of stoppage victories makes it clear he’s as dangerous as any Brock Lesnar-style Adonis.
If Rothwell is able to run his win streak to five fights, it will stand as a meaningful accomplishment in the UFC’s shallowest, but most volatile weight class. It would also improve on his current standing at No. 4 on Bleacher Report’s official MMA rankings and put a lot of real estate between him and a stretch from 2009-13, when he began his UFC career just 2-3.
With No. 3 Stipe Miocic already scheduled to challenge top-ranked Fabricio Werdum for the heavyweight championship at UFC 198, there isn’t much further Rothwell can climb before he forces his way to his own title shot. A win over Dos Santos puts him right there, ripe for the promoting, if the UFC can find it in its heart to promote him.
So far, the fight company has seemed reluctant to go all-in on Rothwell, and perhaps that illustrates a subtle disconnect between UFC brass and some of its fans.
Simply put, it seems like the UFC is underestimating the heavy nerd influence on MMA culture.
See, the organization is looking for Lensar. Or Overeem. Or Ronda Rousey. Or Conor McGregor.
It’s not necessarily looking for Rothwell.
In an illuminating interview with Bleacher Report’s Jemery Botter in January, Rothwell admitted it took him a long time to get comfortable enough to embrace his inner geek and show his true self to the world. After reading him in his own words, it’s easy to theorize that his newfound confidence and his sudden charge up the heavyweight ranks are likely connected.
“I realized I can be who I am. I don’t have to be afraid anymore,” Rothwell said at the time. “That’s why you heard the laugh and saw me with the cloak. People were like, what is this? But it’s real. I’ve decided that I can be as badass as I want to be.”
And so, you see, Rothwell could score one for misfits everywhere on Sunday.
It’s possible that his ability to overcome his inner demons and embrace his own off-beat charm could make him a more inspirational story than any Overeem.
Will the fight company be willing to spend the time and money to tell it?
It feels as though fans have been receptive to his sci-fi/fantasy act so far. Perhaps they see something of themselves in Rothwell. Or at least, maybe they just find him an amusing change of pace from meatheads like Lesnar or the vanilla platitudes of guys like Velasquez.
Dos Santos will no doubt represent the biggest challenge of his current sprint. The former champion has taken a lot of damage during the last couple of years, but the only three losses of his UFC career have come against Velasquez (twice) and Overeem.
Even if he’s lost a step, we still have every reason to believe Dos Santos is an elite heavyweight fighter—especially considering his own recent wins over Miocic and Hunt.
If Rothwell can defy the odds—he’s currently going off as a slight underdog, according to Odds Shark—it could be as good a sign as we’re going to get that the inconsistency of his past is behind him for good.
It might prove he’s ready for prime time.
And that could be a significant win for wizards, geeks and other normal people everywhere.
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