Heading into Ben Rothwell’s bout against Junior Dos Santos in 2016, the Wisconsinite had carved himself out a spot as one of the UFC’s top heavyweights. A four fight win streak, including a KO over Alistair Overeem and the only true submission loss of former champion Josh Barnett’s long MMA career, had put ‘Big’ Ben in sniffing distance of possible title contention.
The 3 years since that win over Barnett, however, have brought nothing but setbacks. Rothwell lost his fight to JDS; a dominant decision win for the Brazilian. Following which, a knee injury scuppered the chance at a quick bounce-back against former champion Fabricio Werdum.