Things are looking up again for Ben Rothwell. Undefeated in his nine-fight, two-year stint with the International Fight League, the Minnesota heavyweight endured a four-month period of limbo following his exit from the promotion. Rothwell’s manager, Monte Cox, ended that limbo last week, announcing Rothwell’s participation in his new promotion, Adrenaline MMA, which rose from the ashes of M-1 Global. Rothwell spoke with FCF about the layoff and what he’d like to accomplish this year.

What have you been doing on your time off?
Staying busy in the gym. Basically, I knew I was going to have to go somewhere and fight, so I was staying in the gym and training as if I had a fight coming up. Back when I was done with the IFL, I was already being told to get ready for February.

February didn’t happen and it was “get ready for April.” I was just playing my normal role and doing the best I can to improve my game more or less. Because I knew I had some time, and I think that’s a perfect opportunity to improve things, things you wouldn’t normally get to work on. It’s been good, I’ve enjoyed the time off.

Well, you had a pretty busy schedule when you were with the IFL.
Yeah, they fight you into the ground, man. They don’t care. From September to September, it was eight fights. In a one-year period of time, that’s a lot of fights. You fight, and then you get a week off, and then you have to fight again in five weeks.

You said you were training as if you had a fight, but there must be somewhere in your mind that you know you have a little time off. Was it difficult to adjust to?
It was enjoyable. When I knew I would be out for a little while, I got to take a deep breath and take a rest. I enjoyed it, it was welcomed, that’s for sure.

Are there any things you got to work on besides your MMA? Did you fish more or something like that?
I wish it was something interesting, but I kind of just lived my own schedule. I didn’t want things to change that much because at this point in my career, for me, like when the IFL started, they started to have success and I told everybody I’m just starting. Even then, the IFL wasn’t really the starting point that I was looking for.

Now, being put on that top-ten list, opponents that are getting talked about me fighting and what Monte’s got planned for me, now I’m seeing a starting point for me, where I’m really going to take off. Being on a way to getting a title that means something.

But don’t you think the IFL gave you that bargaining chip in a sense?
Oh yeah, I can’t complain. I fought a lot and I welcomed it. If I went back in time, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I was able to grit my teeth and get through it. It made me better. They advertised me and did a lot of PR for me, and one of the good things from it, I got some exposure on TV and was talked about. For all those reasons it was good, it just wasn’t a place for me to stay.

So when the whole M-1 thing happened and Monte was telling you to get ready for February and it didn’t happen, how did that feel?
I didn’t care. I did a good job of saving my money, so I haven’t really had to worry too much, and I’ve done some things here and there like appearances, so I’ve been able to take care of myself. Money would be the only reason I would get worried, like “oh, I need a fight,” and I haven’t had to worry about that yet, so every little bit of time I get to keep doing what I’m doing with my training, I welcome it, because I just keep improving. It’s going to help in the long run with this next shot of fighting I’m going to have to go through real soon.

So there was never a moment when you thought, “God I’ll never fight again?”
No. I knew that I was in demand from a lot of different places; even the UFC saw a lot of interest in me. Fighting someday there could happen. I just have this mentality that these other places offer you really good money, so I’d like to go get that, because two years from now, they might not be around, but odds are the UFC is going to be.

So in a sense it’s more about the money now than the prestige?
Well, I’m going to get both. If you’re going to get more money, you’re going to have to fight tougher dudes. You’re going to have to fight somebody that’s worth a sh**. The UFC’s the same way. You’re going to have to fight somebody tough, but you might not necessarily get paid for it.

What did you try to improve on when you were at the gym?
I think I established myself as being the stand up guy with my knockouts, but there’s a lot to learn. I’m on the tip of the iceberg with what I have to learn on my feet. The Miletich way is to keep constantly learning. I have a black belt jiu-jitsu coach that I work with, along with Pat Miletich, one on one. I have a strength and conditioning coach I work with. I’ve been getting more involved with wrestling. You’re not going to survive in this sport by just being good at one thing. Basically, a heavyweight St. Pierre is what I’d like to be like.

Do you have an opponent for June 14th?
I just don’t know yet. Monte’s got things in the works. We’re getting offers from different places, places with non-exclusive deals, so with those kind of things; it’s a really cool thing for the fighters.

Are you saying those offers might supercede you fighting on the June 14th card, that you might fight before then for a different organization?
It’s possible something like that could happen. For who, I don’t know, but I just know that there are things going on.