Video: UFC Fight Night 50's Ben Rothwell says he beat TRT to get to Overeem fight

LEDYARD, Conn. – In his first fight back after a nine-month suspension for elevated testosterone, Ben Rothwell believes the post-TRT version of himself is better than ever.

Rothwell has been on the shelf for about a year after testing positive after a win over Brandon Vera at UFC 164 in Milwaukee in 2013. He had disclosed his therapeutic-use exemption for testosterone-replacement therapy to the Wisconsin commission – and that spared him an official punishment there.

It kept his win intact, but he was still shut down by the UFC for the infraction. Now that TRT use has been banned by Nevada, with all other regulatory commissions expected to follow suit, Rothwell finds himself a new man, he said, going at it naturally.

The layoff? That wasn’t a big deal.

“For the last five years, this has kind of become normal,” Rothwell (33-9 MMA, 3-3 UFC) told MMAjunkie ahead of his fight against Alistair Overeem (37-13 MMA, 2-2 UFC) on Friday. “When I first started getting these long layoffs, I said, ‘It’s not a big deal.’ But I think it did effect me then. Now I’ve kind of become accustomed to it.”

There’s little doubt he’d rather have been fighting than sitting out on suspension, but at the very least he said he used the time to improve both mentally and physically.

If the oddsmakers are to be believed, he’ll need all he can get against Overeem, who is more than a 5-to-1 favorite against Rothwell in their heavyweight bout. The fight is the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 50 at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Ledyard, Conn. The main card airs on FOX Sports 1 after prelims on the same channel.

But no matter what the outcome, he’ll do it free of TRT. Rothwell said he was randomly tested twice in the leadup to Friday’s fight, which he said should prove to the naysayers that the UFC is serious about enforcing its random testing policy.

“(Having elevated levels) was wrong, and it happened … (but) to put me in where I’m at right now is the best thing that happened,” Rothwell said. “What I’ve learned about myself, and everything I’ve done, I feel like I beat it to be what I am. And what I’ve done naturally, it’s awesome.”

Check out the full video interview above with Rothwell ahead of UFC Fight Night 50.

For more on UFC Fight Night 50, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.