The Mac
06-14-2010, 07:52 PM
Ben Rothwell got his first win in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, but he's not calling it a victory.
Rothwell was surprisingly subdued in a post-fight press conference following Saturday's UFC 115 event and his main-card win over fellow heavyweight Gilbert Yvel.
The reason for his glumness? He feels like he let down the fans.
He also feels like he let down the UFC brass.
"It's not a victory for me," Rothwell said. "I got some lumps on my head, but the hardest part is – and I'm not sure, but I just get the feeling that (UFC president) Dana (White) and the fans weren't so happy with the fight. I didn't finish the fight, and that to me is unacceptable. I go out to finish my fights."
Rothwell vs. Yvel featured two noted strikers. But as is often the case when similar styles clash, the fight takes a different path.
In this case, the bout featured lots of sloppy grappling in the final two rounds of their fight, which airs on pay-per-view from GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Rothwell struck early and wobbled his opponent, and Yvel was clearly dazed. But after he recovered and the fight wore on, both fighters struggled with fatigue and the ability to sustain an attack.
Lots of booing accompanied the stalled action.
"I had to fight smart because he's a dangerous guy," Rothwell said. "I will go home and continue my training immediately. The next time I'm back, you're going to see an improved Ben. I'm not happy with a lot of things that happened in the fight, and I'm going to correct it."
Despite the mixed reactions to the fight, Rothwell (31-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) earned a clear-cut unanimous-decision win over Yvel (36-15-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) via scores of 30-27, 30-28 and 29-28.
As Rothwell sat dejected on the panel, it was easy to wonder why Rothwell was being so tough on himself.
Isn't a victory – one on MMA's biggest stage and one that likely preserved his future in the UFC – reason for come celebration?
"The fans me more to me than a belt; that's the truth," Rothwell told MMAjunkie.com . "I fight for them, and I'm there to perform for them because without them, I wouldn't be able to do this, and I'll never forget that. I get to do this as a profession. It's my job to train and become the best that I can be and to go out and perform and make them excited. What I live for is their cheers. That's all I'm about, and I don't feel that I performed the best that I can. I'm not happy."
White, who's often asked to critique fights in the post-fight pressers, thought Rothwell's comments spoke for themselves.
"I'm not going to comment on Ben," he said. "I like the way that he's handled himself."
Rothwell was surprisingly subdued in a post-fight press conference following Saturday's UFC 115 event and his main-card win over fellow heavyweight Gilbert Yvel.
The reason for his glumness? He feels like he let down the fans.
He also feels like he let down the UFC brass.
"It's not a victory for me," Rothwell said. "I got some lumps on my head, but the hardest part is – and I'm not sure, but I just get the feeling that (UFC president) Dana (White) and the fans weren't so happy with the fight. I didn't finish the fight, and that to me is unacceptable. I go out to finish my fights."
Rothwell vs. Yvel featured two noted strikers. But as is often the case when similar styles clash, the fight takes a different path.
In this case, the bout featured lots of sloppy grappling in the final two rounds of their fight, which airs on pay-per-view from GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Rothwell struck early and wobbled his opponent, and Yvel was clearly dazed. But after he recovered and the fight wore on, both fighters struggled with fatigue and the ability to sustain an attack.
Lots of booing accompanied the stalled action.
"I had to fight smart because he's a dangerous guy," Rothwell said. "I will go home and continue my training immediately. The next time I'm back, you're going to see an improved Ben. I'm not happy with a lot of things that happened in the fight, and I'm going to correct it."
Despite the mixed reactions to the fight, Rothwell (31-7 MMA, 1-1 UFC) earned a clear-cut unanimous-decision win over Yvel (36-15-1 MMA, 0-2 UFC) via scores of 30-27, 30-28 and 29-28.
As Rothwell sat dejected on the panel, it was easy to wonder why Rothwell was being so tough on himself.
Isn't a victory – one on MMA's biggest stage and one that likely preserved his future in the UFC – reason for come celebration?
"The fans me more to me than a belt; that's the truth," Rothwell told MMAjunkie.com . "I fight for them, and I'm there to perform for them because without them, I wouldn't be able to do this, and I'll never forget that. I get to do this as a profession. It's my job to train and become the best that I can be and to go out and perform and make them excited. What I live for is their cheers. That's all I'm about, and I don't feel that I performed the best that I can. I'm not happy."
White, who's often asked to critique fights in the post-fight pressers, thought Rothwell's comments spoke for themselves.
"I'm not going to comment on Ben," he said. "I like the way that he's handled himself."