Ben Rothwell is focused on capturing the BKFC heavyweight championship, but sees some compelling potential fights on the horizon.

If all goes perfectly for Rothwell, he will defeat Todd Duffee on Saturday at BKFC: KnuckleMania 4 at Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, then go on to challenge the winner of the night’s co-main event between champ Lorenzo Hunt and Mick Terrill.

Once that’s done, Rothwell, 42, said he will assess the state of his career.

“I think if I go out and perform the way I have been, I think there’s a very good chance I can get myself to a title shot,” Rothwell told MMA Junkie Radio. “I’ve got to get through Todd Duffee. That’s the first thing, the most important thing – not just get through him. I’ve got to make it look it good, too.

“I can’t just win the belt. I have to stick around and defend it. That’s the plan: Keep winning as long as my body holds up.”

If Rothwell gets through the next two fights and holds that BKFC belt, he said it would be hard to ignore the potential options on the table. He said he’s heard rumblings of names like Roy Nelson, Cain Velasquez and even Mark Hunt as people who could join BKFC’s heavyweight division.

He thinks Hunt, who he suffered a unanimous decision loss against at UFC 135 in September 2011, is actually the closest of the bunch to signing a BKFC contract.

If Hunt is ultimately brought in, Rothwell said that’s the kind of fight he thinks could be significant traction to both himself and the BKFC brand.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of talk of Mark Hunt coming in,” Rothwell said. “Some people are built different. He’s just an extremely old, tough man who has dangerous fists. … I hear things that he wants to get a couple fights in before he would fight for the title. Then he’s got his people like, ‘He gets the next title fight.’ Without fighting in BKFC yet? He’s good at promoting. He’s a name that brings eyes to him, and that’s always what’s appealing to BKFC is guys that have that following and fight a certain way.

“Mark Hunt has all of that. (It would be a) big fight for me even though it would be a rematch. It’s a fight I would like to get back.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for BKFC: KnuckleMania 4.

CHICAGO – After his first win in 28 months, Murad Ramazanov gave credit to the standout team he trains with in Russia.

Dagestan’s Ramazanov (12-0) stayed unbeaten Friday when he submitted Laureano Staropoli (13-6) a little more than four minutes into their fight to open the 2024 PFL welterweight season. The win gave Ramazanov 6 points in the standings, leaving him in the ideal position heading into his second regular season fight.

After his win over Staropoli, who missed weight for the fight, Ramazanov said the team formerly led by Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who died in 2020, has helped shape him into a new PFL contender.

“I think when it comes to our school, it’s all thanks to the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov,” Ramazanov told MMA Junkie and other reporters through a translator after his win at Wintrust Arena in Chicago. “He was the one who put discipline behind everything, everybody in the gym. It’s all about strict discipline and sticking to your training process. We have respect for everybody who trains, and then obviously we work really hard.”

The team now is guided in large part by Khabib Nurmagomedov, a former UFC lightweight champion considered one of the pound-for-pound greats in MMA history.

Ramazanov hadn’t fought since a December 2022 no contest with Roberto Soldic under the ONE Championship banner and hadn’t won since a December 2021 victory for ONE. Now his 6 points in the welterweight standings trails only Don Madge, and only based on a tiebreaker because Madge had a faster finish.

Still, Ramazanov is in a great spot heading into his next fight, which will be in late June in Sioux Falls, S.D. He thinks the training he continues to get is what will put him over the top.

“I’ve been around other gyms in the U.S., other countries,” Ramazanov said. “It’s not that I say they’re any worse. Obviously, people train hard. But with us, it’s more about discipline. That’s very important. But I’m very happy to go to train with other gyms, and other people come to our gym and it’s all about love and respect and training together and improving.

“Now Khabib Nurmagomedov, he’s following the path of his father and he’s keeping up that discipline. We owe to him and his father the effort they put with us. It’s all about following a strict discipline program and keep winning. That’s how champions are being made.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for PFL 2024, Week 3.

British boxing champion Savannah Marshalll’s opponent for her debut in mixed martial arts has been revealed – and it’s someone right at her level.

The PFL announced Monday that Marshall will meet Brazilian Mirela Vargas at 2024 PFL Europe 2. The event, which will be headlined by Marshall’s debut, is set for June 8 at Utilita Arena in New Castle, England.

Vargas, 26, is 1-2 as a professional fighter. She won her pro debut in 2021 by 12-second knockout, but then she didn’t compete again until 2023, losing by submission in both bouts under the Iron Man MMA banner.

Marshall, 32, is the IBF, WBA, WBO, and The Ring women’s super middleweight champion with a 13-1 professional boxing record. Her lone career loss came against fellow PFL fighter Claressa Shields. She most recently competed in July 2023 when she won a majority decision vs. Franchon Crews Dezurn. Now Marshall looks to make a name for herself in the world of MMA.

Along with Marshall’s opponent, the promotion also announced the full lineup for PFL Europe 2, which can be seen below:

• Savannah Marshall (Debut) vs. Mirela Vargas (1-2)
• Kane Mousah (14-6) vs. Dylan Tuke (7-4)
• Jack Grant (19-8) vs. Charlie Leary (17-13-1) – welterweight regular season
• Dean Garnett (12-2-1) vs. Ayton De Paepe (12-4) – bantamweight regular season
• Shanelle Dyer (4-0) vs. Mariam Torchinava (9-2) – women’s flyweight regular season
• Ibragim Ibragimov (6-0) vs. Josh Reed (13-8)
• Frans Mlambo (15-6) vs. Luke Shanks (10-4) – bantamweight regular season
• Lizzy Gevers (3-1) vs. Sammy-Jo Luxton (2-0) – women’s flyweight regular season
• Mark Ewen (5-0) vs. Mathias Poiron (7-1)
• Khurshed Kakhorov (12-1) vs. Bondo Kikadze (8-3-1) – bantamweight regular season
• Valentina Scatizzi (2-2) vs. Marie Loiseau (6-4) – women’s flyweight regular season
• Ben Woolliss (2-0) vs. Maher Belkhadir (1-1)
• Alexander Luster (7-1) vs. Alperen Karabulut (10-3, 1 NC)
• Dee Begley (4-5) vs. Paulina Wisniewska (2-0)