Sparring used to be a staple for every fighter competing in combat sports. But in recent years, with more and more information available about injuries and brain trauma, many athletes have cut that out of their consistent training regimens.
Don’t count Ben Rothwell among them.
The BKFC heavyweight, who spent more than a decade competing in the UFC, swears by sparring as a major part of his fight preparation, but he’s adamant about the kind of work he’s doing with his teammates. While there are countess videos out there of fighters beating the hell out of each other in sparring sessions, which leads to knockouts and unnecessary damage, Rothwell insists that’s not what happens in his gym.
“I spar religiously every week,” Rothwell told MMA Fighting. “I know a lot of people get away from sparring. I’m really good at sparring. I enjoy it. It’s a great way for me to get cardio.
“It’s not about, ‘I’ve got to hit them as hard as I can!’ I wouldn’t have any sparring partners then. It’s the work. It’s the speed, the movement, and getting very exhausted. Doing that type of technical work, that I’ve been doing for the last couple of years heavy.”
Rothwell explains that he’s very specific about the people he invites into his sparring sessions, but despite having a significant size advantage, he even counts flyweights among the people he uses for rounds to get ready for his fights.
That might sound nonsensical, but Rothwell says there are looks he gets from bigger and smaller sparring partners that pay dividends. It also speaks to training safely so everybody walks away unscathed.
“I love the reaction time, defense, all the things that come with it that pad work, a bag, they cannot give you,” Rothwell said. “They cannot give you that reaction and the things that I have to work on with a sparring partner. The thing is, I don’t just have random people. I’m very lucky. I have two main heavyweights, both are bigger than me. One is a Golden Gloves [boxer], one is going pro in boxing, so really solid guys. I’ve got a few other guys in the wings that come and go, here and there. And then my group of guys, my fight team, who are 205 [pounds] and underneath, I spar with all of those guys too. That’s kind of fun to do. I can spar with 170, 155-pound fighters.
“I pride myself on sparring dudes bigger than me all the way down to Cody Linne, who is 125 pounds. I spar all those people, for a whole hour, and everybody walks away healthy. To me, that’s a win.”
While some teammates have praised the methods of former UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland, his approach has become synonymous with those jaw-rattling sparring sessions. Ex-UFC champion Luke Rockhold accused Strickland of going too hard during sessions where “he’ll try to kill you”, and described how Strickland wobbled one training partner during a round then spent the last 30 seconds throwing head kicks trying to score the knockout.
Rothwell has never spent anytime training with Strickland, but he promises that’s not the kind of sparring that happens in his gym. In fact, he knows if Strickland or anybody like that tried to throw down with him like that in the ring, it wouldn’t end well for them.
“I’m really particular about who I let in,” Rothwell said. “I don’t just let certain guys from other gyms come in, because if they have Sean Strickland mentality — if Sean Strickland and I started sparring and he acted like that, I’m putting him down. I’m putting the dude down and he’s staying there. He’s 100 percent going to get hurt.
“That’s not good for anybody. I lose a training partner, somebody’s injured, it’s stupid. You get paid to fight on fight night. You leave that for fight night.”
Of course, Rothwell finds time to test his power and improve on those skills as well, but he’s not doing it against the partners he wants to come back to work with him on a daily basis.
“When do I hit my hardest? Yeah, that’s when we work on the pads and the bag work, those things can take it,” Rothwell said. “You let that full power go so you can get used to that conditioning.
“But none of those things can mimic a person who is randomly throwing things, moving things, doing things. I love that reaction. The technique, the defense. As long as you have people who have learned how to spar, it’s technical sparring, it’s an awesome tool. It’s great to have.”
Since moving to BKFC, Rothwell implemented sparring as a main part of his training camps because he’s no longer putting his body through the rigors of a full MMA workout, which can be incredibly grueling.
As he prepares to fight Todd Duffee at BKFC KnuckleMania 4 on Saturday, Rothwell has largely prepared the same way he has for everybody else in bare-knuckle, while implementing some specific looks from his training partners to mimic Duffee.
That way, he gets what he needs to prepare for Duffee, and his sparring partners are learning from him along the way, but nobody is getting beaten up, knocked out, or worse.
“That’s rogue sparring,” Rothwell said. “[People who say,] ‘I’m going to do what I want, I don’t care who I’m going with.’ You’re just fighting without getting paid.”
