Ben Rothwell achieved a remarkable 36-second knockout victory over Mick Terrill to become the BKFC heavyweight champion, overcoming a challenging 31-pound weight cut and personal doubts to secure his first world title at age 43.
Ben Rothwell’s 24-year combat sports journey has seen its fair share of highlights. Yet, the recent 36-second knockout of Mick Terrill to claim the BKFC heavyweight title might just be his crowning achievement.
Winning his first world title at 43 was monumental for Rothwell. However, he revealed that getting to the fight was a trial by fire. A grueling 31-pound weight cut tested him like never before, making him question if he’d squandered his biggest chance.
“In California, I managed my weight down to 296 pounds,” Rothwell shared with MMA Fighting. “But this time? A full 31 pounds. On Thursday’s pre-weight check, I was 295—20 pounds to shed in less than a day.”
The initial ten pounds melted away without much fuss. But the next ten? Pure agony.
Thursday threw its first curveball when the BKFC KnuckleMania 5 press conference faced delays. Conor McGregor‘s late arrival ate into Rothwell’s precious weight-cutting hours.
Once he started sweating it out, Rothwell hit a wall. “The press conference cost me an hour and a half,” he said. “I fought hard for another 45 minutes and lost only 0.2 pounds.”
“At that point, I thought, ‘How am I gonna lose these last five pounds in under ten hours?’” he confessed. He felt defeated.
Desperate, Rothwell turned to George Lockhart, a renowned nutritionist who has worked with stars like McGregor and Tyson Fury.
“They took me home, threw me in bed,” Rothwell recalled. “Woke up after an hour and texted George. He wasn’t happy with how things were handled.”
“‘Listen motherf*cker,’ he told me, ‘you’ve got one shot.’ So I rallied everyone. We had to make it work.”
Rothwell admits this weight cut was harder than any battle inside the cage or ring. “That 3 a.m., four-pound cut? The toughest thing I’ve ever done,” he declared.
“When I finally saw 275 on the scale, I knew I’d won the fight already,” he said. Mentally unbeatable from that point on.
Throughout fight week, Terrill kept jabbing at Rothwell about his weight concerns—a fixation that motivated Rothwell further.
“He was obsessed with my weight,” Rothwell noted. “Brought a dumbbell to weigh-ins, doubting the scale’s accuracy.”
“The scale read 50 pounds; he had to eat crow.” Rothwell laughed. “They get so rattled when I make weight—it’s like I’ve already won.”
In the end, Rothwell’s massive right hand sealed the deal against Terrill in mere seconds, crowning him BKFC heavyweight champion.
Reflecting on his career milestones, Rothwell cherishes this victory above all others. For him, nothing else compares to that knockout moment.
“I’m proud of my fights against Barnett and Overeem,” he acknowledged. “But this? In front of 17,000 screaming fans? Unforgettable.”
“Dave Feldman’s hometown, BKFC’s hometown—we hit a grand slam that night,” he beamed. “My first world title—just incredible.”