BKFC confirmed that Ben Rothwell and Todd Duffee can no longer join the BKFC 56 this weekend. According to BKFC president David Feldman, Rothwell is currently sick, and the promotion can’t find an instant replacement to face Duffee. Nonetheless, the company assured fans they can still expect the bout to happen in February.
The bout was one of the biggest highlights of the event as it was supposed to be the co-main event complementing the middleweight main event between Mike Perry and Eddie Alvarez. However, Feldman confirmed that it will no longer be possible.
“Ben Rothwell actually came down really, really sick this morning, and he’s not going to be able to compete,” Feldman explained during the BKFC 56 news conference this Thursday. “We tried to get a last-minute replacement for Todd Duffee, and we just couldn’t line it up, so we’re going to push that for February. Sorry to the fans for that one, but we still have a stacked card.”
Needless to say, Duffee, who was supposed to have his bare-knuckle boxing debut this weekend, was not happy about it and expressed his disappointment over the matter.
“I fought with COVID my last fight, so I really think Ben’s real fight is happening with the scale,” Duffee said. “I think Thanksgiving was his biggest opponent. I don’t know what else to really add to that. Again, I fought with COVID, I understand what it’s like, but you make a commitment, you try to get out there and make it happen. I don’t think Ben by any means is a weak man. Maybe he’s going through something I don’t understand, but I think his biggest fight was Thanksgiving. And I think that’s where he lost.”
