See, the longtime heavyweight contender loves fighting. Always has, always will. The stuff that comes with it, well, he could do without that part.

“Your best is that street fight,” said the 48-fight veteran who returns on December 7 to face Stefan Struve. “Someone pushes your wife down in front of you and that person's in a lot of trouble. You don't have time to think about it, it's pure reaction.”

That’s not the case in a sanctioned sporting event.

“Professional fighting, people have no idea that you have months to battle mentally,” Rothwell explains. “You've got to fight this guy, you know about this guy, there's the build-up, and then the week of the fight people ask you questions and you think about it more and more. And then the night of the fight you're in the back room and you're thinking about it and thinking about it. You march out to the cage and look at the guy and there’s all this stuff. It's unlike anything, and it's really hard, but at the same time I'm addicted to it because of that challenge. And every fight, I'm not just trying to overcome, but conquer this aspect.”

Rothwell has done a pretty impressive job to this point in his career, winning 36 of those 48 fights, many against the best big men in the game. But as he approaches the bout with Struve on a three-fight losing streak, he knows that what he does on fight night is more important than what he says about it.

“I'm fighting to get my energy back and my performances this year have not made me happy,” said Rothwell. “I had fun with interviews and stuff once I got some momentum and I'm fighting the way that I know I can. Even during the IFL, when I'm rocking and things are good, I'll do interviews and they're fun and I have a good time. But right now, I'm just trying to keep my mouth shut. During the four-fight winning streak (from 2013 to 2016), towards the end of it I got a little too overzealous and started saying some crazy s**t and you kinda lose track, so it was a learning experience. But I'm ready to get back there and I think I know how to handle it this time around because the more you win, the more they're gonna want you to talk, so I'm prepared for that. I just gotta keep things in perspective and stay focused.”