Amerikanac je otkrio da se priprema za Filipovića ozbiljno jer je za sparing uzeo najboljega sjevernoameričkog borca u kick-boxingu, Pata Barryja.
- Zajedno i međusobno treniramo dok nas nadgleda Duke Roufus. Svi dobro znaju da je Roufus najbolji trener na svijetu kad je stajaća borba u pitanju - kazao je Rothwell, koji je u UFC-u na učinku od pobjede i dva poraza u trima odrađenim mečevima; Filipović je na omjeru 2-3.
Na pitanje kako gleda na pad u formi hrvatskog borca kroz posljednjih nekoliko godina, Rothwell je kazao:
- Zaista ne znam što bih mogao reći na tu temu jer doista ne znam što bi mogao biti razlog. Znam samo da se moram pripremiti na najgore. Ljudi govore da je Cro Cop gotova priča. No, istina je da je čovjek prihvatio borbu. U njegovim okolnostima, kad mora slušati da je gotov i da dalje ne može, prihvatiti borbu znači doći se boriti. To je jedina informacija koja mi je potrebna.
*Jedan ste od najvećih, najmasivnijih boraca s kojima se Filipović borio. Kako to namjeravate iskoristiti?
- Znam da moram nekako. Ne uspijem li, bit će problema. Tako je to sa svim borcima koji su veliki. Ne uspiju li nametnuti svoju taktiku, završavaju porazom. Koliko čujem, Mirko se vrlo ozbiljno priprema za borbu. Doveo si je na trening velike momke kako bi se pripremio za mene.
Uoči nedjeljne borbe u Sydneyju Rothwell je na učinku od 30 pobjeda i sedam poraza u profesionalnoj karijeri borca u slobodnoj borbi, dok je Filipović 25 puta slavio, sedam puta izgubio i dvaput remizirao.
Evo sta je Fedor izjavio o Mirku. Ovo je clanak sa mmafighting.com : With Mirko Cro Cop about to step into the Octagon against Ben Rothwell at UFC 110, MMA fans are wondering whether we might get one more glimpse of the Cro Cop of old. But one opponent who took on Cro Cop when he was at the top of his game thinks that Cro Cop is gone. Fedor Emelianenko said recently that he thinks Cro Cop has lost the competitive fire that once made him great. \"I think that in that time Mirko was in his best form,\" Fedor said of their epic battle at Pride Final Conflict 2005. \"He was in good physical shape and he was on a psychological lift. He was a very interesting fighter. He had great potential. Now something happened to him, and he does not have either the physical condition or mental attitude.\" Fedor said he can\'t put his finger on exactly what it is that changed about Cro Cop, but it\'s clear that something did. \"There is something that broke in him and he is not the same fighter as he was before,\" Fedor said. \"This is evident on his style of fighting and on his look during the fight. I don\'t know how to explain. ... You know when a person goes into the ring to win, or at least not to lose. I mean, when a fighter is ready and goes to fight than it can be seen by his look. Regardless of whether he gets hit or not, he goes forward and regardless of whether he wins or loses, he wants to go forward, and it is clear from his burning eyes. That, Fedor says, isn\'t what we\'ve seen in Cro Cop recently. \"But it also happens that a fighter does not want to -- not even to win, but he wants to get out of here so quickly as possible, out of the ring, out of the cage, with any result of the fight.\" That certainly describes how Cro Cop looked in his most recent fight, a loss to Junior dos Santos in which Cro Cop basically quit in the third round. As an admirer of the Cro Cop of old, I\'d like to think Fedoris wrong and we\'ll see that Cro Cop again. But I think Fedor is probably right.