Issue 076
June 2011
Directly across the street from The Bradley Center, Milwaukee’s main sports venue, revered striking coach Jeff ‘Duke’ Roufus sits on the arm of a black leather couch. The ‘Roufus and Pettis Showtime Sports Bar’ is quiet, with only the muted sounds of pint glasses being washed behind the bar echoing through the room for company.
LEADING MAN
Duke Roufus
Head Coach for Roufusport
If Wisconsin’s winter months typically inspire inactivity, Roufus has been anything but. Since mid-November, there has been no hibernation for the growing stable of UFC fighters he nurtures at his Roufusport gym in Milwaukee. Consider the following: In November, fast-rising featherweight Eric Koch TKO’d Francisco Rivera at WEC 52. December saw Anthony Pettis lever the WEC lightweight belt from Ben Henderson aided by an off-the cage kick at WEC 53. In January a duo of Roufusport heavyweights had their hands raised, as Pat Barry outlasted a game Joey Beltran and Matt Mitrione knocked out Tim Hague at UFC: Fight for the Troops 2.
It’s been a nice run for Roufus, one of the greatest champions in the history of kickboxing. After retiring from that sport a decade ago with an impressive 33-4-1 record and five world titles, he’s become one of the most sought-after striking coaches in North America. While he might not be a Shawn Tompkins or a Rafael Cordeiro, his profile within MMA—as well as his fighters’—has never been higher, helped along by the flying roundhouse kick seen around the world.
“Anthony likes to experiment in the ring,” Roufus says of Pettis’ highlight-film kick that connected with Ben Henderson’s skull at WEC 53 and has since been viewed over two million times on YouTube. “He’s gotten so good that he’s creating his own moves out there.” Roufus’ tutelage is paying off, augmenting all of the base skills his fighters already possessed. He stresses to his fighters to avoid the pitfalls he encountered and could not negotiate past. “This fighting industry is so tough, you’re only as good as your last fight,” Roufus says. “What I try to tell all the guys is that I was a fighter but I had some shortcomings. I didn’t make it as far as I wanted to make it. I made a lot of mistakes that if I had the mentorship or the right training partners, I might have made it farther. So I tell the guys do what I did right, not what I did wrong.”
Roufusport’s recent run of success has made it easier for the gym to attract attention to more fighters. Highly touted Bellator 170lb champion and former Olympian wrestler Ben Askren laces up his gloves alongside UFC veteran Alan Belcher, while UFC mainstay Stephan Bonner credits much development to his early days at the gym with Duke. For a state known more for beer, bratwurst and the Super Bowl champions, Green Bay Packers, Wisconsin is churning out champions in the ring.
“Even though they’re separate fighters, when one guy does well, it’s much easier for all of our guys to do well. Because you know what promoters ask me all the time? ‘Do you have any more guys like Pat Barry or Anthony Pettis?’ I say, ‘Oh yeah, here, watch this guy or watch that guy.’ We try and get all the guys on that level and use our team as a unit.” Roufus is pursued as much for his striking techniques as for his ability to help fighters smooth out the ‘mixed’ part of MMA. Pettis came to Roufus as a third-degree black belt in taekwondo, but Roufus has firmed up his striking and ground fighting skills to the point that Pettis more than held his own against an accomplished wrestler like Henderson and threw out some dazzling jiu-jitsu sweeps in his previous outing against Shane Roller at WEC 50.
“What you see with the best is they train all year round. Being a fighter has become a lifestyle now,” Roufus says. “It can’t be like the old-school boxing guys; they don’t do anything all year then kill themselves for 12 weeks. That’s stupid. When do you get better? Learning jiu-jitsu, learning how to flow wrestle, learning how to box and kickbox then putting it all together. It’s all a lifestyle.”
Undoubtedly, after spending so many hours with them, Roufus and his fighters develop close bonds outside of the gym – a relationship Roufus makes sure he develops. “It’s a fine line. I know a lot of guys who are coaches, who say they don’t want to be friends with their fighters just because it’s easier. Me, I want to be as close to you as possible because I want to know that one thing I can say to you when your back’s against the wall that’s going to make you survive or win the fight? If I don’t know you emotionally, on a friend level, how can I get you off the stool?”
Coming from a family reared on the martial arts – older brother Rick is a kickboxing legend also, as well as Henderson’s coach based in Glendale, Arizona, and inspired Duke to begin kickboxing – Roufus draws upon a wealth of experiences to not only hone his fighters’ skills but also to further refine his own as a coach. “As a fighter I did it good, sometimes I did it bad. I know where I broke, the mental mistakes I made, the mistakes from over-training or under-training, neglecting my skills or growing my skills. The worst thing you can do as a fighter is know you are good. You get lazy. I’ve been guilty of that and I won’t let my guys do it. It’s too easy to do.
“As a coach, anybody can come into a room with 20 guys and be God,” Roufus adds. “[Former University of Iowa wrestling coach] Dan Gable said it best: ‘How do we take that skill on the practice mat and take it into the arena when the camera’s on, the lights are on and the whole world’s watching?’ That’s the journey I think I help guys with the best.”
