Never one shy to speak his mind, UFC Heavyweight contender “Big” Ben Rothwell has a theory about what led to Cain Velasquez vs. Fabricio Werdum being pulled from this Friday’s UFC 207: Nunes vs. Rousey pay-per-view event in Las Vegas, Nevada.
If you ask “Big” Ben, the former UFC Heavyweight Champion used the media to make the public and the Nevada Athletic Commission aware of his back injury and scheduled surgery as a way to get himself pulled from his scheduled rematch against another former UFC Heavyweight Champion in Fabricio Werdum.
“People are so surprised Cain got pulled and that baffles me because it’s not surprising at all,” Rothwell told Duane Finley of FloCombat.com. “He started saying all that sh*t in public knowing he’s going to get pulled.”
Rothwell continued, “Telling the commission you’re doing marijuana to manage pain and your back surgery is already scheduled is a surefire way to tell them you’re not fit to fight. But that’s pretty convenient because now it doesn’t look like Cain pulled out and it’s the commission who wouldn’t let him fight. Cain going public with all that sh*t two weeks before a fight is evidence he didn’t want to fight. Don’t sit there and tell me you’ve been in this business for that many years and don’t f*****g know how this works. You obviously needed them to pull you out of the fight.”
Ben Rothwell last appeared inside the Octagon at UFC Fight Night 96 in April, losing via decision to former UFC Heavyweight Champion Junior Dos Santos in a fight that snapped a four-fight win streak he was riding that including victories over Alistair Overeem and Josh Barnett.
UFC 207, sans Velasquez vs. Werdum, takes place this Friday, December 30th, airing live on pay-per-view from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Join us on 12/30 for live round-by-round results coverage of the show.
