Ben Rothwell: ‘I feel like my submission skills are like a cheat code out there right now’

UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell made a big statement with an impressive win over Josh Barnett at UFC on FOX 18. Barnett who is known for his own deadly ground game fell to submission with Rothwell’s perfectly executed gogo choke.

“Big Ben” has been campaigning for some time now for the top competition in the UFC heavyweight division and spoke about his skills and jiu-jitsu lineage after his win on Saturday (transcribed by MMA Junkie):

“I’m not going to show the technique, but it’s obviously the hand grip,” Rothwell said following Saturday’s event. “I hear people say things like ’10-finger,’ ‘squeezle diesel’ and different variations of guillotine. It’s none of those. If you watch what they do with those, Luiz and I shake our head. It’s something very unique. I’m proud of being able to represent it with Luiz because Rickson Gracie is a renowned black belt, and that’s who made Luiz a black belt. When Rickson Gracie goes to Luiz, he says, ‘Show me this gogo.’ That’s something special.”

Rothwell said he feels like his skills are so superior amongst the competition right now that he used an interesting comparison to playing video games with an unfair advantage.

“I feel like my submission skills are like a cheat code out there right now,” Rothwell said. “Guys don’t know what I’m doing. They think it’s going to stop with the choke. If a guy does get his takedown, it’s not going to end there. I have an array of deadly skills off of my back, on top – wherever the fight goes, I’m ready to end it.

“I know a lot of people say that, but I’m proving it out there. Wherever the fight goes, I’m going to end it.”

Is Ben Rothwell ready for a shot at the heavyweight title? Share your thoughts in the comments!