Rothwell Defends Affliction

With the announcement that Affliction’s third offering is now history and the rampant speculation that the organization is finished promoting MMA, there is plenty of blame being tossed around. The majority of arrows have been slung at the promotion and its front man Tom Atencio and “Big” Ben Rothwell is having none of it.

Rothwell, who was scheduled to fight Chase Gormley at the Aug. 1 event, made his feelings known in a phone call earlier today.

“I just want to say I don’t understand why people are blaming Affliction,” said Rothwell. “What are they supposed to do in this situation? It isn’t their fault Josh [Barnett] tested positive for steroids. From what I understand, this is a business decision and it comes down to losing a little money or a lot of money. What would you do?”

Rothwell, who is hoping M-1 picks up his fight for their August 28 show in Los Angeles, implicated Barnett as the guy who should be feeling the brunt of MMA fans anger.

“I blame Josh Barnett,” stated Rothwell, “if anyone deserves to be criticized it’s him.”

This article was updated at 1:10 a.m. ET to correct an error. Rothwell is not a former IFL heavyweight champion as Sherdog.com had reported.