Issue 110

January 2014

When it comes to just about anything in life, you have to love your craft to be able to master it. You have to be like Jimi Hendrix, who slept with his guitar. That thing’s got to be next to you, and when you think of a note, you play it. I like to immerse myself in everything so I can learn it even better.

DUKE ROUFUS

The head coach at Roufusport MMA reflects on a year of growth  

I set out a few years ago to make my gym, Roufusport Mixed Martial Arts, one of the best in the US, and I’m proud to say I think we’ve done exactly that. Anthony Pettis is UFC lightweight champion. Ben Askren is the Bellator welterweight champ. Chico Camus and Erik Koch have each put on some incredible fights in the Octagon, while Dustin Ortiz and Sergio Pettis have just made their UFC debuts. Plus, we’ve got some fantastic up-and-comers on their way through. 

At the end of the day, it’s the fighters that win. But when I coach, I really work on doing things for them that will help them to not fail where I failed – whether it’s mind-set, discipline or what you do outside the gym and the people you associate with. I really try to wholeheartedly teach these guys the full-fighter, martial arts lifestyle. They’re just so open-minded to want to learn and get better, too.

Most people think that to be a great fighter, you have to enjoy fighting, but that’s not necessarily true. To be a great fighter, you have to enjoy training. The reason Anthony Pettis is a champion is because he loves to train. That’s why he was able to take the UFC title fight with Benson Henderson on short notice, step up and make a name for himself. That’s the real core value.

As a team, we have that Midwest, hard-working mentality, and we’re together a lot. I’m almost as close to a lot of guys on the team as I am to my own family. I have two families: the gym family and my own family, and that’s another thing that helps.

When I designed the gym here years ago and thought about how I wanted it to operate, I kind of used the model of a camp in Thailand. Over there, all the fighters live at the camp. They train there, and they’re always together. It’s basically their second family. That’s something we’ve done here: we’ve created that family environment, as I believe I can reach people better that way.

I don’t have a lot of guys who say, ‘Hey, I’m going to come in and do a training camp, and then I’m going to go back home.’ We work more with a dumbed-down version of Chael Sonnen’s motto, ‘I don’t do training camps. I don’t pitch a tent. I go to the gym every day.’ A lot of the guys live right here in Milwaukee, and this is where they’ve chosen to make their life. That’s why we get the results. It’s the little things we accomplish day by day that make big gains at fight time. 

As our team at Roufusport has grown in terms of size and profile, it’s tough to keep up with the increasingly busy schedule, but I’ve got an incredible family. My wife and daughter are awesome. But at the end of the day, it comes down to this incredible team we have at the gym – all the coaches and teammates. And also, we’re busy, but we only have six guys in the UFC. It’s about quality rather than quantity here. 

To be honest, I’ve been in a dream since August 31st (UFC 164). It still hasn’t sunk in yet that Anthony is the UFC lightweight champion. It’s been a crazy ride. I’ve got to pinch myself some days and go, ‘Oh, man. I really do this for a living. These things are happening to me.’

I’m going to start sharing my coaching via my online training university at DukeRoufus.com. And launching a video blog for Glory soon. I’m going to review the fights, prep some of the fights, show some techniques and educate people a bit more on the kickboxing scene. Glory is going to release it, and it’s fun sharing all the little things I know about kickboxing.