Ben Rothwell Takes Shots At UFC Heavyweights Over PED Use

In an interview with ESPN, Ben Rothwell took the UFC heavyweights to task for PED use. Here are highlights:

On PED use in the heavyweight division: “Before USADA, I would say 80 percent or more heavyweights were on performance-enhancing drugs. Let’s just look at the facts. Bigger athletes don’t like to train the way we do. This sport is exhausting. Big guys come and go all the time because they hate the hard work. The ones who survive seem to think they need steroids and PEDs to cope with the training. And let’s face it, being a big guy and ripped just doesn’t happen naturally. Everybody wants that ripped look. For a guy to weigh 265 pounds and get that look everyone wants to see in a professional fighter, he needs help. I think that’s another big reason PED use is high at heavyweight. All divisions have it, but it has been bad at heavyweight.”

On the USADA testing: “These guys are changing. They’re not the same. You see the Alistair [Overeem] and Junior dos Santos fight [in December], even when they get on the scale, the way they fought — there are a lot of changes. Travis Browne just struggled to beat a guy [Matt Mitrione] I trashed in two minutes. There are a lot of changes going on right now in this division and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

On the title picture: “Stipe has a two-fight win streak. I’m about to have a four-fight win streak. He can say anything he wants, but when it comes to reality, I deserve a shot more than he does. At least, wherever Josh Barnett is ranked, the guy has been around and UFC brass knows that anyone who can take him out is legitimately saying something. Smashing Barnett is going to put a scare into the rest of the division and make this title picture uncertain.”