Former UFC heavyweight contender Ben Rothwell made his bare knuckle boxing debut last night (Sat., Oct. 1, 2022) at BKFC 30 live on FITE TV from inside Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe, La., and “Big Ben” ended up sparking Bobo O’Bannon with a vicious knockout just 19 seconds into the first round.
The former UFC fighter was favorite to take care of business against O’Bannon and that’s exactly what he did. Once the fight started Rothwell charged forward and exchanged hands along the ropes. O’Bannon was hanging in the pocket and letting them fly as well, but Rothwell was too much to handle. “Big Ben” connected with a combination and then a nasty uppercut inside that planted O’Bannon on the canvas and put an end to the contest.
Check out the knockout finish below:
Ben Rothwell knocks out his opponent in just 19 seconds in his BKFC debut.pic.twitter.com/60N3cYloMm
— MMA mania (@mmamania) October 2, 2022
Rothwell, 40, signed with Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship (BKFC) this past April after parting ways with UFC in March. “Big Ben” was coming off a 32-second knockout loss to Marcos Rogerio de Lima at UFC Vegas 42 back in Nov. 2021 so it was good to see him return to the winner’s circle. It’s evident by the above finish that Rothwell’s raw power will do just fine in bare knuckle competition and it should allow him to become one of BKFC’s biggest attractions.
Rothwell’s post-fight interview was pretty entertaining as well. Check it out below:
The Laugh is Back!!pic.twitter.com/e9H67JI6nF
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) October 2, 2022