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[Doggage]

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Unsuccessful in his UFC debut against top contender Cain Velasquez at UFC 104, IFL veteran 'Big' Ben Rothwell made it clear that he felt stoppage made by referee Steve Mazzagatti was unjustified as he was in the midst of transitioning to better his position.

"So what he was punching me, big deal, isn’t that what happens in a fight? The reality of the situation is that I was using the cage to get to my feet and which I basically did and then for some reason Steve [Mazzagatti] decides to step in. Honestly, I couldn’t believe it. I mean if the punches had some force behind them I could understand it but those were like soft jabs that didn’t hurt at all, it was like he was just hitting me to stay busy rather than damage me. That's is why I wasn't covering up – the punches didn’t hurt and definitely weren't doing any damage, at least not enough to slow me down, but then he [Steve Mazzagatti] calls the fight? Please, my grandmother hits harder that that. Maybe it looked bad to those at home and to those who have never trained but I had worked back into standing position and was ready to fire back some of my own, so how bad could the punches have really been? Come on, if you would have seen me the next day you’d have hardly thought I was in a fight - I woke up the next day with barely a scratch on my face. Look at some fights I have had in my career, I’ve been in plenty of worse positions and managed to turn the fight around and win.

You know Shogun wasn't the only one robbed that night. So what If I lost the first round by a small margin, all that meant is there were still two rounds up for grabs, my shoulders were just loosening up at the beginning of the second round - the real fight was just getting started. Look, I don't want to make this sound like I'm taking anything away from Cain, he's a great fighter, probably one of the best in the heavy weight division at the moment. I just feel like I've been working my entire career to get this shot in the UFC, only to have it taken away from me by an incompetent referee. Losing is one thing but to have such a big opportunity taken from you? I'm disgusted."

Rothwell explained that using the fence to work to and retain a dominant position was something he had worked diligently on weeks before the fight.

"That's what my wrestling coach [Peter Senerchia] and I had worked on before the fight. Each time he took me down I made my way to the fence and got back to me feet like we planned. I had so many different tools in my arsenal that could have led to a victory but I feel like I didn’t really get a chance to show them, that the fans didn’t get a chance to see what Ben Rothwell is all about. I’d have loved to have knocked Cain out and I really feel like I could have, but we all know what happened there. The worst part is I figured out early that Cain is a decent wrestler and was taking me down a lot quicker than I anticipated so I basically told myself the next time Cain takes me down I’m going to forget about the knock out and submit him. I have great jujitsu and great submissions but people don’t realize this because I don’t call on these skills too often because my hands are so devastating. Anyway, sure enough Cain managed to take me down and pressed me up against the cage. I had a standing arm lock (kimura) basically given to me on a silver platter that I was setting up and Mazzagatti went and stole it from me. It was like he stole Thanksgiving day dinner from me right from underneath my nose. I’m still feeling really pissed off about this fight and I really feel like Cain didn’t beat me, poor officiating did.”

Rothwell also had a final message for his fans, ensuring that he will deliver a better performance next time out

“If you feel as ripped off as I do, let me apologize, but I also want all you people to know that next time I step in the cage no ref is going to steal anything from me and tell me what fight I didn't win, I’m gonna take matters into my own hands and put some people to sleep, bank on it”

[macewen]

Stoppage was definitly way too early, not that I think if it hadda kept going things woulda been any different, but I still think it was early. On a side note, when I watched the post fight press conference, Dana whites comments were hilarious.."you know what I think of mazzagatti, i dont thing he should be allowed to watch the sport, let alone ref it" lmao funny

[noahm]

'lost the first round by a small margin'??? lol

It was a crummy call IMO, but not horrible. All it did was prevent Ben from going home looking like hamburger. Ask Kongo. His face was destroyed after that fight.

[The_Mab69]

I feel like it was a good clean stoppage by steve, ben was getting destroyed and steve did him a favor.

I wish fighters nowadays would be respectful of a referees decision and not bitch and moan as of lately.

[Malice]

I thought the stop was a little quick, but in this case the ref was right there warning him, he even warned him after the 1st round.

How many unanswered shots can you take without it being stopped?

Not a bad call by Steve at all.

[Y2JUBAE]

He wasn't saving him from punches, he was saving him from further embarrassment.

[optimusjoel]

I actually thought it was going to be stopped earlier so I wasn't surprised when he stepped in. Unfortunate that he stood a split second after the stoppage. But did Rothwell even land a shot ?

[Pasha K]

LOL he is just making excuses, I dont know if the punches were hard or not but Cain was raping him in a bad way, he was taking him down with ease and then Pounding him in the face several times. He was raped in the first round (10-8) and was getting raped again in the 2nd. For me it was a good stoppage.

[Rhino]

just lost all respect for Rothwell... WAR Cain

[Daellusx]

I thik it was a bad point in the fight to stop it but i dont think it was an early stoppage.

Ben can say that he would have done this, or done that IF the fight kept going but the fact is that he was unable to stop Cain from pounding his face in for the entire first round. The ref's can not see in to the future. They cant see that maybe Ben would have pulled a Kimura and submit Cain or dropped a bomb to knock him out. Mazagatti can only go on what happened, first round domination by Cain, and what was occuring. Not a bad call by Steve in my opinion.