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“I Definitely Want Philly on My Side” – Knucklemania Headliner Ben Rothwell Hoping for Local Support on Saturday Night
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One of the best Philly moments at Knucklemania V came from a guy who isn’t even from here.
That was co-main fighter Ben Rothwell, a Wisconsin native who KO’d Mick Terrill to win the heavyweight title and then used his post-fight mic time to shout out the local fans:
“Philadelphia fuck yeah! You are awesome!”
Rothwell is back for Knucklemania VI, one year later, this time defending this belt in the main event against Andrei Arlovski. It will be a trilogy fight between UFC veterans with Arlovski up 2-0 after MMA wins back in 2019 and 2008.
Returning to the same arena one year later, Rothwell is hoping that Philly will be on his side.
“Just hearing down the pipeline a few months out that Philadelphia might be my spot, I was extremely excited, of course,” Rothwell said at Thursday’s BKFC press conference. “This has turned into the fight town. The fans showed up last year. They’re showing up this year. You love fighting, so I love you. Philadelphia rocks.”
Knucklemania V broke a Philadelphia modern combat sports attendance record, with 17,762 fans showing up at Wells Fargo Center. President David Feldman said Thursday that he thinks the number will be beaten this year.
Last year was promoted on the strength of local legend Eddie Alvarez headlining against Jeremy Stephens, which had a trickle-down effect on the rest of the card.
“I was here as a co-main event so I got to be a part of it, got to feel it,” Rothwell told CB after the presser. “I think it’s the biggest attendance I ever fought in front of, last year. And this year is going to be (bigger). It means a lot. This is the BKFC’s home, their home base and home city and I get to be the headliner. So personally it means a lot to me.”
Rothwell fought 53 times in mixed martial arts and is 4-0 in BKFC. He’s participated in kickboxing events over a career that started way back in 2001. He’s fought in Vegas, Abu Dhabi, Croatia, Brazil, and everywhere in between, but the closest he got to Philadelphia was Atlantic City and Newark.
“They kind of fight amongst each other a little bit,” laughed Rothwell when asked his opinion on Philadelphia sports fans. “But when they’re all on the same side they’re ferocious. I definitely want Philly on my side. They’re incredible fans, I mean look at their sports teams. It’s a very well-known city for supporting their teams and I definitely want Philly to be on Team Rothwell.”
Rothwell is 44 years old and well traveled. He’s aware of the simple nature of sports fandom, that the crowd will return the energy and effort it receives from the athletes. And when it comes to bare knuckle boxing, there’s nothing complicated or hard to understand. It’s two guys slugging it out inside of a ring.
“I feel like our (2025) performances spoke, and that arena left happy,” Rothwell said. “We made a lot of headlines that night and this is the result of it. People know they’re coming for a great show.”
“Those are the fans I love to fight for. That’s what makes it worthwhile.”
Andrei Arlovski (L) and Ben Rothwell (R) after Thursday face offs
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com