Efter sin seger mot Josh Barnett har Ben Rothwell varit öppen med att han anser sig vara bäst i sin viktklass. Nu riktar ”Big Ben” hård kritik mot såväl UFC som mot de andra kämparna i tungviktstoppen.
På UFC on FOX 18 besegrade Ben Rothwell (36-9) grapplingspecialisten Josh Barnett (34-8) med en giljotinstrypning. Rothwell blev därmed den första fightern någonsin att vinna över ”The Warmaster” på submission.
Sedan dess har ”Big Ben” varit öppen med att han ämnar göra rent hus i UFC:s tungviktsdivision, och att han ser sig själv som favorit i en möjlig match med titelhållaren Fabricio Werdum (20-5).
Kritiserar UFC
Nu tar Rothwell än en gång bladet från munnen, och riktar skarp kritik mot såväl UFC och mästaren Werdum, som Cain Velasquez (13-2) och Stipe Miocic (14-2). I en intervju med MMAjunkie förklarar ”Big Ben” bland annat att han tycker UFC har gjort fel som satsat så hårt på Velasquez, med tanke på den före detta mästarens skadehistorik:
”The guy sat on a belt for five years, and he fought the same three guys, and the course of that defined his championship run.
My question to the UFC is, how much money did Cain Velasquez just cost the company in advertising costs? After the show was canceled, you’re still watching FOX and you’re seeing the commercial for it, and it’s just like, damn, that’s a lot of money. So not only has he done this in the past, now he’s just cost the company money right now.
That, to me, does not warrant a title shot, does not warrant a reward. When you pull out of a title fight like that, to me, I take it like a loss. No, it doesn’t go on your record, but you cost yourself a lot. You cost your record, you cost your opponent, you cost the organization, you cost the fans. And why he should be rewarded? He did get his immediate rematch, and he effed it up. That’s it. We all need to move along now.”
Tror inte på Werdums skada
Vidare riktar Rothwell kritik mot Werdum. Han sållar sig till dem som inte tror att mästaren drog sig ur fighten mot Miocic på grund av skada. Istället tror han att det var ekonomiska skäl som låg bakom:
”[T]he reason Werdum messed up is he said that he would have fought (Cain), but he wouldn’t fight Stipe. It doesn’t sound like an injury, it sounds like pay-per-view dollar points is what he was after.
Was Stipe going to bring the same amount of pay-per-view buys as Cain? A lot of hardcore fans say, oh yeah, it’s a more exciting fight, but the everyday fans, no way. Let’s face it – Cain has a country of people that are willing to tune in and watch and we’ve seen the effectiveness when you get a country behind you, as we’ve seen with Conor McGregor.”
Werdum knows this, and knows Cain was going to up the pay-per-view points. Once that fight got canceled, he was thinking about his pocketbook. He wasn’t thinking like a champion”
Vill ha titelchans innan Miocic
Slutligen riktar Rothwell en svada mot Miocic. De två skulle ha mötts på UFC Fight Night 76, men Miocic drog sig ur på grund av skada. Rothwell menar att han är den av de två som borde ligga bäst till för en titelmatch:
”[H]e gets the Arlovski fight. Good. Great for him. He beats Arlovski, who I feel his win streak was not as powerful as my current four-fight win streak. I knew I wanted that fight, because I feel like (Arlovski’s) on his way out, as well. Stipe knew it, and he got the fight. He got the big, great win. You got your second win in a row. Congrats. You pulled out of a fight against me, and you’re on a two-fight win streak. I do not think that warrants a title shot any more, when I have a four-fight win streak, and you pulled out against me three months ago. So I feel like I have the strongest stake at the tite”
Tycker ni att Rothwells hårda ord är befogade? Eller är han bara bitter?
