At 34, UFC heavyweight Ben Rothwell (36-9 MMA, 6-3 UFC) may be fighting better than at any time before in his 15-year professional career. With results come rewards, and after notching his fourth straight UFC win – not to mention his second straight win by his now-patented gogo choke – Rothwell now ascends to the No. 4 position in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA heavyweight rankings. The UFC has yet to announce what UFC heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum (20-5-1 MMA, 8-2 UFC) will do next following the dissolution of a planned rematch with Cain Velasquez (13-2 MMA, 11-2). And while Rothwell isn’t likely to slide into that contest – at least not if Stipe Miocic (14-2 MMA, 8-2 UFC) has anything to say about it – he certainly deserves a No. 1 contender bout, at a minimum.
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USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie Rankings, Feb. 2: Rothwell enters rarefied air – MMA Junkie