This the live blog for Ben Rothwell vs. Andrei Arlovski, the BKFC heavyweight championship main event for KnuckleMania 6 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia. It\u2019s the third time the fighters compete in a combat sports contest.<\/p>\n
After parting ways with the UFC in 2021, Rothwell took his talents to the world of Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship, where he is 4-0 with four finishes \u2014 including three in under 45 seconds. In his most recent bout, Rothwell captured the BKFC heavyweight title with a 36-second knockout of Mick Terrill at KnuckleMania 5. Rothwell also holds a BKFC knockout win over fellow UFC vet Todd Duffee.<\/p>\n
Arlovski has been all over the combat sports world since he ended his most recent tenure with the UFC \u2014 competing for BKFC, Dirty Boxing, and Misfits Boxing. In his BKFC debut, the former UFC heavyweight champion stopped Josh Copeland in the fourth round at BKFC 76 this past June. \u201cThe Pit Bull\u201d defeated Rothwell in both of their matchups, with one taking place in the UFC and the other on the very first Affliction event.<\/p>\n
Check out the Ben Rothwell vs. Andrei Arlovski KnuckleMania 6 live blog below.<\/p>\n
According to the few sports books that carry BKFC odds, Ben Rothwell closes as around a -225 favorite to retain his title, with the comeback on Arlovski at around +175.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been a pretty solid card, overall. Certainly not the best BKFC has brought to the table, but certainly not the worst either. The pacing has been pretty tough, honestly. BKFC usually leads the way in great card pacing, going from fight-to-fight with very little break in-between.<\/p>\n
Tonight, a lot of extra desk time, and things that dragged it on a bit too much. Was it as bad as we\u2019ve seen from the UFC or PFL? No. But this has probably been the worst it\u2019s been in quite some time.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll go with Ben Rothwell. He\u2019s younger, he\u2019s fought better competition since their UFC runs came to an end, but this is a weird sport where the unexpected can happen.<\/p>\n
Andrei Arlovski has made his way to the ring. Rothwell, dressed like a druid, is slowly \u2014 and I mean SLOWLY \u2014 walking to the ring.<\/p>\n
Ring announcer just said over 18,000 people in attendance for the card. That\u2019s pretty damn good. The challenger has been introduced, and now the champion. We\u2019re moments away.<\/p>\n
The bell rings and we\u2019re under way. Feeling each other out a bit, some swings and misses. Good jab from Arlovvski, and a nice overhand right sends Rothwell backwards into the ropes. Big swing and miss from Rothwell, and Arlovski happy to jab, clinch and push to the ropes. Right hand from Arlovski lands, good answer from \u201cBig Ben.\u201d Final 10 seconds and Arlovski hammers away with a combination that got Rothwell\u2019s attention. Good round for the former UFC champ.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores it 10-9 Arlovski<\/p>\n
Arlovski actually ate a good left from Rothwell in that last exchange too. Round 2 is off. Rothwell a bit more aggressive as he lands a few shots. Arlovski gets back to his range with a series of nice jabs, and a right hand. Rothwell is busted open, and Arlovski back to getting the clinch on the ropes. Another good shot from Arlovski.<\/p>\n
Rothwell needs an answer badly. Arlovski hurts Rothwell with a combination and the ropes hold Rothwell up. All Arlovski after two rounds.<\/p>\n
MMA Fighting scores it 10-9, 20-18 overall for Arlovski<\/p>\n
Super impressive start for Arlovski. Rothwell\u2019s face is a mess as we start Round 3. Doctors took a quick look at Rothwell but allowed him out. Arlovski continues to jab and avoid punishment from the other side. Arlovski turning it on as he continues to batter the face of Rothwell.<\/p>\n
After a clinch against the ropes, the ref calls the doctor back in after a nasty cut opened opened up on Rothwell. The doctor says it\u2019s done, and the referee calls it. Andrei Arlovski is the new BKFC heavyweight champion.<\/p>\n
OFFICIAL RESULT: Andrei Arlovski def. Ben Rothwell via TKO (doctor\u2019s stoppage) \u2014 Round 3, 1:14<\/p>\n
Final Words: Andrei Arlovski sends a positive message to never give up on their dreams. Cyrus Fees tries to set up a fight for Arlovski, and Andrei was like, \u2018Nah, man, I just fought, I\u2019m going to see my family.\u2018 But he\u2019ll be ready for whoever BKFC gives him next.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it. Have a great night, all!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"This the live blog for Ben Rothwell vs. Andrei Arlovski, the BKFC heavyweight championship main event for KnuckleMania…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":461626,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[33307,42718,49,48,641,701,638,82],"class_list":["post-461625","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-bkfc","tag-bkfc-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-fighting","tag-latest-news","tag-mma","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461625","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=461625"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/461625\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/461626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=461625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=461625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=461625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}