Ben Rothwell is going back to his roots in hopes of busting out of the first three-fight skid of his career.
With hopes of turning things around against Stefan Struve at UFC on ESPN 7 in December, Rothwell (36-12 MMA, 6-6 UFC) has reunited with former coach Duke Roufus at the Roufusport gym in Milwaukee.
The heavyweight has largely been training out of his own gym for the past several years. He hasn’t gotten the results he wanted, and Roufus said he felt compelled to reach out to help Rothwell fulfill his potential.
“Ben and I are going to be reuniting,” Roufus told MMA Junkie. “I last worked with him in 2012. I reached out to him. He’s an old friend of mine, I stood up at his wedding, and I was in his wedding part. I told him, ‘You’re toward the end of your career, buddy. I want to help you as much as I can.’
“I can see some things I can really add to his game, and we’re going to have some fun together and go for it. I have a history with him, and I don’t know how long I’m going to be on this earth, so I want to finish strong with everyone who I started with.”
Roufus believes he can help Rothwell, 37, in particular for the matchup with Struve (29-11 MMA, 13-9 UFC), who is the tallest fighter in the UFC heavyweight division at 7 feet. Roufus said he has experience against towering foes from his kickboxing career and hopes to impart some wisdom on Rothwell ahead of the Dec. 7 bout, which takes place at Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.
After a U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspension took away nearly three years of his career, Rothwell returned to the octagon in March and dropped a unanimous decision to Blagoy Ivanov at UFC on ESPN+ 4. He faced former UFC champ Andrei Arlovski at UFC on ESPN 4 in July, but again fell short by decision.
Going into what could be a do-or-die situation against Struve, the decision was made to get back with Roufus, and Rothwell said he’s excited for it.
“It’s been a long time, too long,” Rothwell told MMA Junkie. “I’m happy to have an old friend back and working with him again. Not many have believed in me like Duke has. He believes I can go all the way, and I want to prove him right”
