Rothwell Recovering from Torn ACL

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The last place a mixed martial artist wants to be is on the sidelines, unable to fight whenever and wherever he wants. However, former International Fight League standout and current UFC mainstay Ben Rothwell has taken a more philosophical approach to his injury-induced layoff.

“Life’s really simple right now,” said Rothwell, who tore the anterior-cruciate ligament in his knee and suffered a deviated septum during his unanimous decision win over Gilbert Yvel at UFC 115 in June. “I just wake up, go rehab, teach and train, but that’s a good thing because it’s made me even more of a martial artist than what I already was.

“I teach [at Rothwell MMA and Gracie-Barra Wisconsin in Kenosha, Wis.] in the mornings, doing stretching and things with my classes, and, at night, there’s a group that trains MMA four or five times a week,” he added. “I didn’t train like this before. I wanted to do more, and I like the fact I’m doing more now.”

Despite suffering the knee injury in June, Rothwell had to wait until late July before undergoing surgery. He started lifting weights and walking about two months after the surgery and does not expect to fight again until July or August. Rothwell can live with the layoff.

“I hope to book a fight sometime in the summer, but the doctors have said to expect a 12-month recovery, and that’s what I’m going to do,” said Rothwell, who has 28 finishes among his 31 professional MMA victories. “Things have been going well with my rehab, and I just want to continue that for another six months.

“In my head, I know I’m not going to be fighting until July, but there’s a part of me that would like to fight sooner,” he added. “But I want a full recovery. When I was younger, things might be different, but now, I’m 29 years old and I feel like I’m an elder. I’m one of the most experienced guys in the UFC, and I want to take the time to be at full strength when I get ready to fight. When I do fight, I want to be able to get out there and show my best, which I don’t think I’ve done yet.”

Rothwell -- who owns victories over former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez, one-time IFL heavyweight titleholder Roy Nelson and “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 8 semi-finalist Krzysztof Soszynski (twice) on his resume -- has only lost twice in 17 fights since February 2005. The only setbacks came to former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski and current UFC heavyweight kingpin Cain Velasquez.

Rothwell’s career has proven wildly inconsistent in terms of activity. His first professional MMA fight came in January 2001, and in the first two years of his career, he fought a staggering 16 times, including 10 appearances in 2002 alone. He also had 11 bouts in 2006-07, winning them all. However, Rothwell has only competed three times since December 2008, with single fights in 2009 and 2010. Once he returns to the Octagon, he wants to find a happy medium between the two extremes.

“Because I’m experienced, I’ve been able to remain calm [about not fighting],” said Rothwell. “I’ve been realistic with myself about things. Before, I might have freaked out, come back early and hurt myself. Now, when I come back, I want to be quality. I want to be different than what people saw against [Yvel and Velasquez]. I want to show people what I’m capable of and fight about three times a year. If I’m fighting three times a year, that means I’m winning and looking good doing it.”