Ben Rothwell got the biggest victory of his career this past weekend when he knocked out Alistair Overeem in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 50.
Although Rothwell was undoubtedly happy with the huge win, he could not get past Overeem’s “dirty tactics” during the short bout. Speaking with Submission Radio after the win, Rothwell claimed that Overeem’s oblique kicks were dirty:
I almost yelled at him in the fight. He was doing some real dirty push kicks to my knee, and it’s just a dirty move. It’s not honorable in my mind because this isn’t street fighting. Like street fighting, if you’re fighting in the street, I’m undefeated. And I will remain so, and if I’m not, it means I’m dead. If you want to fight like that, then I’m going to start. I’m gonna rip his eyes out, I’m gonna pull his jugular out with my teeth, and I’m gonna break things on him. I’m gonna start snapping fingers and it’ll be a lot worse on him. And throwing push kicks at the knee joint is kinda like, to me it’s the same dirty message. It’s like you don’t do that, and I almost said something to him during the fight like ‘really?’ like ‘you’re gonna play like that?’ and I luckily ended him before he got to do it anymore.
Rothwell is not the first fighter to claim oblique kicks as “dirty”. Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans have echoed the same sentiment after their respective bouts with UFC light heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones.
Do you think the oblique kick is “dirty” and should be banned? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
[h/t MMAMania]
