Ben Rothwell’s bare-knuckle boxing return at BKFC 56 has been cancelled after he fell ill, with the co-headlining bout against Todd Duffee being postponed to February.
Well, here’s a bummer. Ben Rothwell won’t be stepping into the bare-knuckle boxing ring this Saturday.
He was all set to go toe-to-toe with Todd Duffee, another UFC veteran, at BKFC 56. But, alas, the bout got scrapped. Why, you ask? Rothwell fell sick Thursday morning. This unfortunate news was shared by none other than BKFC president David Feldman at the pre-fight press conference.
Feldman said, “I do have an unfortunate announcement to make that our co-main event, Ben Rothwell actually came down really, really sick this morning.” He added, “He’s not going to be able to compete. We tried to get a last-minute replacement for Todd Duffee and we just couldn’t line it up, so we’re going to push that fight to February, so I’m sorry to the fans for that one.”
BKFC 56 was scheduled for Dec. 2 at the Maverik Center in Salt Lake City.
So, what’s the plan now? With Rothwell vs. Duffee off the table, the event will still go on. It’ll be a seven-fight main card. The new co-headlining attraction? A women’s flyweight title rematch between BKFC champ Christine Ferea and Bec Rawlings.
For those keeping score, Rothwell (37-14 MMA) is a perfect 2-0 in the bare-knuckle boxing ring. He’s had stoppage wins over Josh Copeland and Bobo O’Bannon since his Oct. 2022 debut.
Duffee (9-4 MMA), on the other hand, was set to make his bare-knuckle boxing debut. He had some choice words after the announcement. “I think it’s sad that Ben’s stuck in 2020 and thought this was a stay-at-home job,” Duffee said. “It’s terrible.”