Ben Rothwell and Josh Copeland collide at BKFC 41: Perry vs. Rockhold on April 29th.
The fistic fireworks broadcast on the BKFC TV App and Fite TV with the main card kicking off at 9 PM Eastern time.
Rothwell spoke to Dylan Bowker of Bare Knuckle News before the fight. Excerpts from the chat can be found below.
Ben Rothwell
The Josh Watson fight fell by the wayside. When did you initially get the word about this Josh Copeland fight being brought into the picture?
“Well, I got told Watson was out five minutes before the fight happened. Some were kind of saying injuries, stuff like that. The truth is he said he didn’t agree to fight in Denver. That part of it was kind of upsetting because three weeks prior to the press conference we were announced, and it was
Denver. We were on a poster, me and him. So, I don’t understand that. He says they flipped the script on him. That he agreed to the fight but not Denver. So, I don’t understand any of that. Doesn’t look good, it is what it is.”
“About two days later, they had decided it was going to be Copeland. Copeland was already on the card, he already had a fight, and he stepped up. Said he wants to fight me. So, he was more excited for that than the other guy they had. Alright then, let’s do this. Yeah, the fight makes sense because I mean, me and him are two guys who could have easily fought each other throughout our tenure.”
Ben Rothwell continued, “When I was in the UFC, him and I were both going through and representing different organizations. Definitely two guys who could have fought earlier before. Here it is, we’re lined up. Now we’re fighting for BKFC in probably the biggest fight card they’ve ever had.”
BKFC 41
What are some of Josh Copeland’s better stylistic attributes in your estimation?
“Yeah, I guess from what I’ve watching, I guess he’s here in Colorado. They do work a lot on MMA. So, he’s kind of well-versed at everything. Couldn’t decide, is he a ground guy? Is he this, is he that? I think at the end of the day, he just likes throwing his hands like I do. So, I guess he’s kind of similar in the same aspect. I don’t think he was a big kicker in MMA or anything. I think he kind of got around on his hands. He feels the way I do. BKFC it’s like, oh, that’s all we have to worry about; just throw the hands.”
BKFC
What were the big takeaways from your BKFC debut as you prepare for your sophomore effort with the promotion?
“For me it was necessary. I really wanted to make an impact, I wanted to make myself known. There was a whole group of people that I don’t think really knew much about me. There’s a bare-knuckle group of fans that might have heard of me but never really watched me fight and that was the introduction. As far as moving into my next fight, I just try to get it out of my head, because for me, as an opening goes, that’s like a grand slam. I don’t think there is any redoing that. I don’t think you can really up that one.”
“So, I’m just going to move on and make new highlights – make something new. Exciting to talk about with a tough guy that. I don’t think he’s gonna lay down. He’s not scared; he’s coming in to fight. So, that makes the fight exciting. It seems, in my perspective, that people are more excited about this fight than the (Josh) Watson fight. A lot of the media members were just like, ‘Oh, Watson,’ and they didn’t even think anything of it.”
Ben Rothwell continued, “It was really dangerous for me because I’m like the guy’s big and he’s dangerous. So, I’m supposed to win, but if I don’t, then that’s catastrophic, but if I win, it’s no big deal. So, it’s kind of like a lose-lose situation almost. Copeland – everybody’s like, ‘Oh this is a great fight,’ and they’re excited for it. So, now I feel like I’ve got something to actually win off of this. So, it’s got me more excited.”
Ben Rothwell continued, “It was really dangerous for me because I’m like the guy’s big and he’s dangerous. So I’m supposed to win but if I don’t then that’s catastrophic but if I win, it’s no big deal. So it’s kind of like a lose-lose situation almost. Copeland, everybody’s like oh this is a great fight and they’re excited for it. So now I feel like I’ve got something to actually win off of this. So it’s got me more excited.”
