Duke Roufus

Jeffrey Ryan "Duke" Roufus[1] (born February 19, 1970) is an American former kickboxer and head coach of the Roufusport based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.[2][3] He is a well-known striking coach in North America.[3]

Duke Roufus
BornJeffrey Ryan Roufus
(1970-02-19) 19 February 1970
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Weight235 lb (107 kg; 16.8 st)
DivisionHeavyweight
StyleKickboxing, Muay Thai, Taekwondo, Karate, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Fighting out ofMilwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
TeamRoufusport
Rank4th degree black belt in Roufusport Kickboxing
3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo
Purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Years active1988–2007 (Kickboxing)
Kickboxing record
Total45
Wins36
By knockout26
Losses8
Draws1
No contests0
Other information
Notable relativesRick Roufus (brother)
Notable studentsAlan Belcher, Stephan Bonnar, Matt Mitrione, Anthony Pettis, Sergio Pettis, Emmanuel Sanchez, Paul Felder, Maycee Barber, Jared Gordon, Jens Pulver, Ben Rothwell, Ben Askren, Erik Koch, CM Punk, Tyron Woodley

Career

Duke Roufus started training in martial arts at an early age.[4] He is the younger brother of kickboxer Rick "The Jet" Roufus.

His professional kickboxing career saw him collect a number of titles. During the 1990s he won the W.K.A. North American Super Heavyweight Championship, W.A.K.O. World Super Heavyweight Championship, W.K.B.A. World Super Heavyweight Championship and the K.I.C.K. World Super Heavyweight Championship and the I.K.F. Pro Muay Thai Rules Super Heavyweight World Title on December 4, 1998 in Milwaukee Wisconsin, over Hiriwa TeRangi of New Zealand by unanimous decision 50-43 on all three judges' cards. On March 19, 1999, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in his only defense of his I.K.F. title, Roufus quickly defeated Australia's WKA World Champion Grant Barker with a combination of strikes which included a leg kick, 2 knees to Barker's head and finished with a high head kick. Roufus only took 39 seconds to knockout the Australian in the opening round of the scheduled 5 round Muay Thai bout. He opened Milwaukee Kickboxing & Fitness Club in June 1997.[5]

Roufus voluntarily vacated his Super Heavyweight I.K.F. Title to move down to the Heavyweight Muay Thai Division and soon after, retired. However, at the end of October 2000, Roufus announced he would come out of retirement to fight in the K-1 USA tournament. He lost his second round bout in the May 2001 K-1 USA tournament and his opening round bout in the August, 2001 K-1 USA tournament.

On December 11, 2002, Roufus made his retirement official. His final kickboxing record was 36–8–1 and in pro boxing he was 2–0.

On two further occasions Roufus has come out of retirement to fight in the ring to record wins against Sinisa "Thunderman" Andrijasevic on June 3, 2005 and Eduardo Maiorino on May 25, 2007.

Following his retirement, he has become a well-known trainer, working with many mixed martial artists including former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis, Alan Belcher, Pat Barry, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell, Matt Mitrione, former U.S. Olympian and former Bellator World Champion Ben Askren and former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley.[6] Other former students include Kill Cliff FC coach Jason Strout, former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver, The Ultimate Fighter Season One star Stephan Bonnar and CM Punk.

Duke Roufus, business partner Scott Joffe and Anthony Pettis operate Roufusport Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Roufus has also served as color commentator for K-1 on ESPN2 and has appeared on TSN in Canada, Walker Texas Ranger and Fox's Best Damn Sport's Show Period.

Roufus and Joffe also operate NAFC (North American Fighting Championship) MMA & Kickboxing, which has served as a launching pad for many current and former stars of MMA.

Honors and titles

Kickboxing record (incomplete)
Kickboxing record
36 wins (26 KO's), 8 losses, 1 draw
Date Result OpponentEventLocation MethodRoundTimeNotes
March 29, 2008 Win United States Lawson Baker Gladiators Fighting's 50th -"Knockout Kings" Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Decision (Unanimous) 3
May 25, 2007 Win Brazil Eduardo Maiorino Colosseum 5 Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada TKO (Leg Kicks) 2 0:56
June 3, 2005 Win Croatia Sinisa Andrijasevic Heavyweight Gladiators Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Decision (Unanimous) 5 3:00
August 17, 2002 Loss United States Marvin Eastman K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada, United States KO (knees to the body) 3 0:19
September 29, 2001 Win Mexico Pedro Fernandez Heavyweight Gladiators Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States TKO (Corner Stoppage) 4
August 11, 2001 Loss Germany Stefan Leko K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas Las Vegas, Nevada, United States TKO 2 2:34
May 5, 2001 Loss Canada Michael McDonald K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA Las Vegas, Nevada, United States Decision (Unanimous) 3 3:00
May 5, 2001 Win Poland Tomasz Kucharzewski K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA Las Vegas, Nevada, United States TKO (2 knockdowns) 1 2:26
October 23, 1999 Win United States Dewey Cooper Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Decision (unanimous) 5 3:00
March 19, 1999 Win Australia Grant Barker Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States KO (High Kick) 1 0:39 Defended IKF Super Heavyweight World title.
December 4, 1998 Win New Zealand Hiriwa TeRangi Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Decision (Unanimous) Won IKF Super Heavyweight World title.
June 25, 1997 Win United States Patrick Smith Ledyard, Connecticut, United States TKO (Leg Kick) 2 Defended KICK Super Heavyweight World title.
March 10, 1996 Loss South Africa Mike Bernardo K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle Yokohama, Japan TKO 2 1:37
March 25, 1995 Win Australia Stan Longinidis World Cup of Martial Arts Ledyard, Connecticut, United States KO (Overhand Right Straight) 1 0:41 Won WKA, ISKA and WAKO World Super Heavyweight titles
October 2, 1994 Loss Switzerland Andy Hug 1994 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup KO (Kick to the Body) 3 2:17
September 18, 1994 Win Japan Takeshi Tanaka K-1 Revenge Yokohama, Japan KO (Right Punch) 2 0:05
June 3, 1993 Win United States Zinnie Reynolds Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States Won WKA North American Championship
Legend:   Win   Loss   Draw/no contest

See also

References
  1. "NSAC report of K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas" (PDF). Boxing.nv.gov. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  2. Dale De Souza. "Duke Roufus, the Roufusport Fight Club and the Power of Quality over Quantity". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  3. "Duke Roufus: MMA's Busiest Man in Milwaukee". UFC. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  4. Alireza Fadaie. "Exclusive Interview With Duke Roufus". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  5. Joanne Kempinger Demski. "An Ancient Form of Martial Arts Finds New Popularity". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on August 23, 2000 – via milwkick.com.
  6. MMAFightingonSBN. "UFC 235: Tyron Woodley, Ben Askren Media Lunch - MMA Fighting". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-12.
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