Filed under: UFC
Duke Roufus has had better days. The coach and head of Roufusport in Milwaukee is feeling the effects of watching his students Anthony Pettis and Danny Downes fall short this past Saturday at The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale.
“I’m still emotionally drained about it,” Roufus said Monday on The MMA Hour. “They’re great guys, great people. The emotional roller coaster in this sport is so tough sometimes.”
Just last December, Roufus was enjoying the highs of the sport. At WEC 53, Roufus oversaw Downes earning his first WEC win over Zuffa prospect Zhang Tie Quan and Pettis pulling off an amazing “Showtime” kick en route to capturing the WEC lightweight belt.
Roufus said Pettis wasn’t himself that night even while warming up and one of the things they will work on is for Pettis to perform effectively regardless of whether or not he’s on an “on” or “off” day.
“We have not see the last of Anthony Pettis,” Roufus said. “There’s so much unlimited potential with Anthony. We just gotta get it together. Now he’s human again and sometimes that’s better. The spotlight is constantly on. It’s almost too hard. Too much, too fast sometimes.”
Although his takedown defense was his downfall, Pettis fought an exciting fight against Clay Guida and even debuted the “Showtime Two,” a spinning back kick off the cage.
“That’s the one you can say with Anthony Pettis,” Roufus said. “He’ll never be guilty of being boring in the UFC Octagon. He was throwing up submission after submission. I’m not upset at him. I’m only upset for him.”
Pettis was promised a UFC title shot after winning the WEC title, but chose to stay active rather than possibly sitting out a year waiting to see how the Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard rivalry unfolds. Still, even in loss, Roufus believes it was the right decision to accept the fight against Guida.
“Who knows when the title shot is going to happen?” Roufus said. “It’s one of those things … And as well, obviously consistency, there’s some things we’re going to work on with Anthony. I rather know now than later.”