Rothwell can make statement at Affliction

To most passengers who were hustling to their gates at Toronto's Pearson International Airport, the two large men eating lunch together didn't merit so much as a second glance.

But those who know mixed martial arts had to do a double take when they walked by and saw Ben Rothwell and Andrei Arlovski sharing a quiet meal together while awaiting a flight to Chicago.

The men meet on the July 19 Affliction card at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif., in a pivotal match for each fighter.

Arlovski, a former UFC champion, has accomplished about all there is to accomplish in the sport. But Rothwell is on the rise and a win over Arlovski would cement him as one of the game's elite heavyweights.

Still, Rothwell, an avid cook himself, didn't see anything unusual about having lunch with a man he would soon be fighting.

"Andrei's a good guy and this it is not like we hate each other," Rothwell said. "It's just a business deal."

But it's the biggest business deal of Rothwell's young life. The 26-year-old is 29-5 in his career, but hasn't faced anyone with Arlovski's combination of size, power, athleticism and record.

Rothwell is ranked ninth

among heavyweights by the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts, and 10th by Sherdog.com.

Arlovski, by contrast, is ranked fifth by Sherdog and sixth by both WAMMA and MMAWeekly.

Rothwell was one of the rising stars of the International Fight League for whom he went 9-0

. But when his contract ran out after the IFL event in September, he never reconsidered signing with the organization that is now on a death watch.

He declined to fight in its inaugural Grand Prix in December and instead watched Roy Nelson claim its heavyweight belt.

It didn't, however, bother him a great deal.

"I fought for them, from September (2006) to September (2007) eight times and I made a certain amount of money in the last fight, with Ricco (Rodriguez)," Rothwell said. "They wanted me to fight in the Grand Prix for only a little more money than I had made the last time. What incentive did I have to fight in that Grand Prix?

"My body hurt. I gave my body up, fighting as often as I did. (IFL commissioner) Kurt Otto was trying to talk me into it and I asked him what incentive there was for me to do it. He said, 'The belt, Ben. The belt.' All I did was laugh. The belt doesn't pay my mortgage."

A trinket he could put in his trophy case and admire for years was the last thing Rothwell wanted. He wanted not only the compensation that fights against elite talents like Arlovski would bring, but also the ability to test himself against the best in the world.

His biggest win is over Rodriguez, a one-time UFC champion who was past his peak when he met Rothwell in September. So Rothwell opted to turn to Affliction, which began collecting top heavyweights like the New York Yankees have big contracts.

"This fight is a rite of passage for me," said Rothwell, a hulk of a man who once drew interest while he was in high school from Florida State's football program. "I'm pleased that I'm ranked where I am, but I've been kind of knocking at the door at the bottom of the top 10 for a while now.

"Fighting for belts is pointless. A fight with a guy like Andrei does a lot more for me. Who is to say what a belt is worth? But if I beat a guy like Andrei, the things it can do for my career are amazing."

Rothwell knows Arlovski's game all too well. Arlovski won the UFC title by submitting Tim Sylvia at UFC 51. But Sylvia got the last laugh by knocking out Arlovski in the first round at the rematch at UFC 59 and then by winning a unanimous decision in the rubber match at UFC 61.

Rothwell was Sylvia's primary training partner for those bouts and played the role of Arlovski.

"I did study Andrei very closely so I could help Tim as best as I could," Rothwell said. "So I think I know what he can do as well as anyone."

Rothwell isn't the same fighter as Sylvia, who meets Fedor Emelianenko in the card's main event, but believes the experience emulating Arlovski will be beneficial.

More than anything, though, he's excited to have hit the big time. With highly regarded talents like Emelianenko, Sylvia and Arlovski under contract, Affliction is offering a big opportunity to ambitious young heavyweights such as Rothwell.

Work through that list of fighters and you've instantly become a star in the sport. He got into it by chance, after leaving football in frustration and wandering into a gym.

He saw fighters doing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and got onto a mat with a 155-pounder who was going to show him some of the moves.

Rothwell outweighed him by more than 100 pounds, but he was shocked at the ease with which the man could maneuver on the mat.

"He was just showing me what you do on the ground and I realized pretty quickly that this little guy could have kicked my butt so quickly and so easy, and I started to go nuts," Rothwell said. "I just had to learn more. I'd always loved to fight, but I never thought it would lead to this."

Nine years later, Rothwell is on the verge of a breakthrough into the big time.

But he doesn't want to think of what a win might do for his career just yet. He wants to focus on making sure he does win.

"You can't get ahead of yourself and think of the implications (of a win) before you fight the fight," Rothwell said. "I'm fighting a guy who is as dangerous as anyone in the world. I'm where I want to be now, but I can only focus on preparing for the fight and not for all the things that would happen (with a win)."