"Then they didn't want to give me another shot," Rowston recalled.
"He didn't really hear back from them after that, so I was like, right, I'm just going to bang out a bunch of fights and make myself undeniable to get another shot, and that's exactly what I did."
Putting together three wins between October and February, Rowston again got the call-up for the Contender Series, earning his spot on the UFC middleweight roster with a first-round knockout in mid-August.
Not only did he earn a contract, he also impressed UFC boss White enough to have his request for a UFC debut in Perth a little more than a month later granted.
"In a perfect world, it goes exactly like that. It's brilliant," the Australian said.
"That's just the sport. The sport is just full of ups and downs. It's not like a linear straight line to getting into the UFC for a lot of people and I've been lucky enough to have one of those careers which has had very high highs and very low lows."
Rowston will make his UFC debut in Perth this weekend against established middleweight Andre Petroski. He'll be one of four from City Kickboxing fighting in Perth this weekend, alongside fellow debutant Brando Peričić, Navajo Stirling and headliner Carlos Ulberg. Kiwi Michelle Montague is also on the card, which will see her become the first New Zealand woman to fight for the promotion, and Australian-based Kiwi Justin Tafa is also competing.
It's an opportunity that comes six years after Rowston went all-in on himself and moved from Sydney to Auckland to train with the established team of UFC-level talent at City Kickboxing.
It's a decision that Rowston says has been justified now that he can call himself a UFC fighter.
"A lot of the sacrifices that I made, like, especially during Covid - I missed a few big key celebrations like birthdays, a few weddings and stuff like that and a few friends weren't happy about that, but I guess now they're coming to Perth so they're happy," he says.
"It's just the life you live, like, training 24/7 and always trying to be on call, ready to take a fight or ready to fight."