Duke Roufus, head coach at the Roufusport Gym in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recently spoke about his fighter CM Punk’s future following his first professional MMA bout at the recent UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem pay-per-view event in Cleveland, Ohio.
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Duke Roufus, head coach at the Roufusport Gym in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, recently spoke about his fighter CM Punk’s future following his first professional MMA bout at the recent UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem pay-per-view event in Cleveland, Ohio.
According to Roufus, despite the fact that the 37-year-old Punk was dominated in a one-sided affair against rookie prospect Mickey Gall in his Octagon debut, there is still a lot of interest from promoters in booking Punk’s next fight, if he chooses to continue competing.
“He’s got some stitches (around) his eye and he had some cauliflower ear that blew up during the fight so he has to get those healed up,” said Roufus in a recent interview with Sherdog.com. “I know he wants to get back on the mat and keep working. I had a plethora of promoters reach out to me but I’m not his manager. People have shown great interest in working with him.”
Roufus continued, talking about the level of talent in a promotion like the UFC, before stating that he believes Punk will enter some Jiu-Jitsu tournaments to get in some more “competition rounds.” He added that he does, in fact, believe Punk will fight another MMA bout at some point down the line.
“The game is faster, stronger, more explosive in the Octagon and that’s the lesson that I think he learned the most, is to train more and work harder,” added Roufus. “I think we’re going to see him do some jiu jitsu tournaments to get some more competition rounds in as well… I think he’s going to (fight again).”
For video highlights of CM Punk’s MMA debut against Mickey Gall at UFC 203, click here.
Ahead of this Saturday’s UFC 203 pay-per-view in Cleveland, Ohio, CM Punk is featured in a new video released by the UFC to promote his Octagon debut against UFC prospect Mickey Gall.
Featured above is the video, “UFC…
https://youtu.be/wccMP5xnnAg
Ahead of this Saturday’s UFC 203 pay-per-view in Cleveland, Ohio, CM Punk is featured in a new video released by the UFC to promote his Octagon debut against UFC prospect Mickey Gall.
Featured above is the video, “UFC 203: CM Punk – My Team Taught Me Everything,” which features the former WWE Superstar talking about the importance of his MMA fight team — Roufusport — in helping with his transition from pro wrestler with no MMA experience to a UFC pay-per-view main card fighter.
In addition to comments from Punk himself, the above video also features insight from Punk’s coach, Duke Roufus, as well as the star pupil in the Milwaukee-based gym, former UFC Lightweight Champion and current UFC Featherweight contender Anthony “Showtime” Pettis.
Punk-Gall takes place on the PPV main card at this Saturday’s UFC 203: Miocic vs. Overeem event, which goes down live from the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
Join us here at MMANews.com this Saturday for live coverage of the UFC 203 PPV!
(MMA H.E.A.T’s Karyn Bryant talks with Rose Namajunas, Pat Barry, and former Roufusport training partner L-Dogg.)
The death of kickboxer Dennis Munson Jr. in March was a horrific, completely avoidable tragedy, and one that has spurned several former students of Duke Roufus to speak out against the allegedly abusive and negligent training methods employed by the Roufusport fight club. Chief among the dissenters has been TUF 20 contestant Rose Namajunas, a Milwaukee native and former UFC fighter Eric Schafer, who referred to Roufus as “one of the worst people I have ever met” on a recent UG post in support of Rose. The hard numbers haven’t helped either — Roufusport was recently determined to be the most injury-prone camp in MMA, with fighters withdrawing due to injury in 16.6% of their scheduled fights.
But so it goes, there are always two sides to a story. In an interview with MMAJunkie last night, Roufus — along with former UFC/Roufusport fighter Danny Downes — responded to Namajunas’ allegations.
You know, when I see Rose and (former UFC fighter) Pat Barry, they don’t seem disgruntled. They’re very nice to me. Pat asked me advice at the last Glory (kickboxing) event. Rose came and trained at our gym in spring. Eric Schafer, I know we’ve had some issues. I’ve tried to reach out ever since he left Roufusport, and he didn’t want to ever sit down and chat with me. It’s tough.
I think they left in 2010. It’s 2014. If you look at the results of what the kids are doing right now, and just the evolution of MMA, things have changed. Back then, I don’t think we embraced strength and conditioning as much. We were trying to spar ourselves into shape. My philosophy now, four short years later, is completely opposite of that.
(MMA H.E.A.T’s Karyn Bryant talks with Rose Namajunas, Pat Barry, and former Roufusport training partner L-Dogg.)
The death of kickboxer Dennis Munson Jr. in March was a horrific, completely avoidable tragedy, and one that has spurned several former students of Duke Roufus to speak out against the allegedly abusive and negligent training methods employed by the Roufusport fight club. Chief among the dissenters has been TUF 20 contestant Rose Namajunas, a Milwaukee native and former UFC fighter Eric Schafer, who referred to Roufus as “one of the worst people I have ever met” on a recent UG post in support of Rose. The hard numbers haven’t helped either — Roufusport was recently determined to be the most injury-prone camp in MMA, with fighters withdrawing due to injury in 16.6% of their scheduled fights.
But so it goes, there are always two sides to a story. In an interview with MMAJunkie last night, Roufus — along with former UFC/Roufusport fighter Danny Downes — responded to Namajunas’ allegations.
You know, when I see Rose and (former UFC fighter) Pat Barry, they don’t seem disgruntled. They’re very nice to me. Pat asked me advice at the last Glory (kickboxing) event. Rose came and trained at our gym in spring. Eric Schafer, I know we’ve had some issues. I’ve tried to reach out ever since he left Roufusport, and he didn’t want to ever sit down and chat with me. It’s tough.
I think they left in 2010. It’s 2014. If you look at the results of what the kids are doing right now, and just the evolution of MMA, things have changed. Back then, I don’t think we embraced strength and conditioning as much. We were trying to spar ourselves into shape. My philosophy now, four short years later, is completely opposite of that.
Several other fighters who opted to speak with MMAJunkie under the promise of anonymity claimed that, while the physical abuse was was always a big problem while fighting for Roufusport, the main issue was verbal and psychological abuse in the gym, often following a loss. Former Roufusport/UFC fighter Danny Downes attempted to shed some light on this:
Downes recalled his first fight in the WEC, which he lost via submission at the hand of Chris Horodecki after taking the bout on short notice. Afterward, he said, Roufus had some unkind words about his wrestling ability, and that stung.
“But he was right; I did need to work on my wrestling,” Downes said. “Duke’s the kind of guy where, if you did a sh-tty job, he’ll tell you that you did a sh-tty job.”
We hear a lot about positive reinforcement, but not usually the converse,” Downes said. “Fighting is about negative reinforcement. Not good at blocking a cross? Well, you just got punched in the face. Not doing so well at sparring? Then you hear about it. The trick is to find the balance, and oftentimes that balance was not met.
As for his feelings regarding “Thug” Rose, Roufus could only state that he was “disappointed” in them, as well as confused why Rose chose to return to her gym following Munson’s death knowing what she knew.
If that’s how you felt, why did you come to my gym to train in the spring, after Dennis had passed? This happened March 29. She came through after that to train with us.
So basically, it’s a lot of “he-said, she-said” at the moment, which is to be expected. Still, a young man is now dead, and his death lies largely in the hands of Roufus’ team and the officials deemed competent enough to protect him. While Roufus did defend the ringside physician and referee chosen for Munson’s fight, he could not pretend that his loss was anything other than tragic.
I have a hard time putting it into words, because it hurts. I have a huge hole in my heart with the loss of Dennis. The harsh reality of combat sports hits home sometimes, and it’s hurtful. … It’s awful, and we all hurt over here.
On Saturday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a long, must-read feature on the death of Dennis Munson Jr., who collapsed and died during his kickboxing debut in Milwaukee in March 28th. The article sheds light on the “cascade of errors by fight officials” during the match, including a lack of regulatory oversight, an inept ringside physician — who was busy staring at his phone while Munson was showing signs of physical distress — and the use of same-day weigh-ins as an apparent cost-saving measure.
The person who arguably comes off looking the worst is Roufusport striking coach Scott Cushman, who cornered Munson that night and could be seen physically propping the fighter up between the second and third rounds, sending him back into battle despite the obvious red flags that Munson was in no shape to continue (You may recognize Cushman as the burly, bearded assistant coach for Team Pettis on TUF 20.) It’s difficult to watch, but footage of the entire fight and Munson’s collapse is above. As the video explains, the footage originally submitted to police by Roufusport was missing 32 seconds showing Munson’s actual collapse. The restored footage shows Cushman slapping Munson and holding him upright for a while until the fighter dropped to the canvas. Munson was pronounced dead later than night.
According to the MJS article, “The state says it has no authority to investigate the death or the actions of those in charge that night because it was an unregulated event,” which has only compounded the tragedy for Munson’s family. But yesterday, UFC strawweight Rose Namajunas — who formerly trained at Roufusport — spoke out with a series of social media posts, blasting Roufusport’s abusive coaching methods, and the gym’s hostile environment in which experienced fighters were regularly encouraged to beat up newbies, and coaches physically brutalized female students.
“Crazy that I finally speak out against the people that are responsible for this tragedy and now other people are coming out too it’s sad it takes someone’s life to bring awareness,” Namajunas wrote on Squor. She then passed along several stories of terrible experiences that former students have had at Roufusport, which we’ve reprinted below…
On Saturday, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published a long, must-read feature on the death of Dennis Munson Jr., who collapsed and died during his kickboxing debut in Milwaukee in March 28th. The article sheds light on the “cascade of errors by fight officials” during the match, including a lack of regulatory oversight, an inept ringside physician — who was busy staring at his phone while Munson was showing signs of physical distress — and the use of same-day weigh-ins as an apparent cost-saving measure.
The person who arguably comes off looking the worst is Roufusport striking coach Scott Cushman, who cornered Munson that night and could be seen physically propping the fighter up between the second and third rounds, sending him back into battle despite the obvious red flags that Munson was in no shape to continue (You may recognize Cushman as the burly, bearded assistant coach for Team Pettis on TUF 20.) It’s difficult to watch, but footage of the entire fight and Munson’s collapse is above. As the video explains, the footage originally submitted to police by Roufusport was missing 32 seconds showing Munson’s actual collapse. The restored footage shows Cushman slapping Munson and holding him upright for a while until the fighter dropped to the canvas. Munson was pronounced dead later than night.
According to the MJS article, “The state says it has no authority to investigate the death or the actions of those in charge that night because it was an unregulated event,” which has only compounded the tragedy for Munson’s family. But yesterday, UFC strawweight Rose Namajunas — who formerly trained at Roufusport — spoke out with a series of social media posts, blasting Roufusport’s abusive coaching methods, and the gym’s hostile environment in which experienced fighters were regularly encouraged to beat up newbies, and coaches physically brutalized female students.
“Crazy that I finally speak out against the people that are responsible for this tragedy and now other people are coming out too it’s sad it takes someone’s life to bring awareness,” Namajunas wrote on Squor. She then passed along several stories of terrible experiences that former students have had at Roufusport, which we’ve reprinted below…
And finally, some words from former UFC contender Eric Schafer…
Schafer continued his thoughts on The UG. At this point, neither Duke Roufus nor Scott Cushman have publicly responded to the Journal Sentinel article or its backlash. We’ll let you know when that happens.
Duke Roufus had an illustrious career as a kickboxer before becoming even more well-known as an MMA coach. In recent years, his highly regardedRoufusport camp has produced such talents as UFC champion Anthony Pettis, his younger brother Sergio, and former Bellator champ Ben Askren. In advance of the Glory 13 event in Tokyo this Saturday that Roufus is doing color commentary for, CagePotato sat down with him to look back on the twists and turns of his career, and look towards the future of some of his biggest stars.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: What would you say your role with Glory is, Duke? We hear and see you doing color commentary during events but when you were in Chicago last fall, you also had a big presence in all sorts of other pre-event activities.
DUKE ROUFUS: Well, about ten years ago they had me do color commentary for K-1 on pay-per-view broadcasts. This was really a natural progression when they came back with Glory. My role is that of a color commentator but I’m also just a huge kickboxing enthusiast. I love the sport. I’m just as big a fan as a participant.
We’ve always heard Joe Rogan talk about “K-1 level striking” in certain UFC fighters — meaning that a particular guy had great striking, so much so that he could survive in K-1, which was recognized as the top kickboxing promotion in the world. Has Glory replaced K-1 in that role?
Yeah, for sure. K-1 just struggled internally. Japanese kickboxing and MMA have had some internal issues. The guys from Glory have really stepped up. They are also huge kickboxing enthusiasts. Now, all the best fighters are fighting for Glory. We also did something similar to what MMA did with unified rules, and we’ve tried to set that up for kickboxing. We want to make it a fan-friendly fight. The fans can really tune in and enjoy the fights. We created a rule set that makes it fun for the fan.
As an expert kickboxer and one who knows Muay Thai so well, don’t you think that the Glory rules could be better, though? You have many fighters who have trained and competed under full Muay Thai rules — using elbows, using the clinch, using sweeps — and now they get to this point and they’re not allowed to use these effective weapons.
Well, with those things allowed, the tournaments would have a different outcome, that’s for sure. There would be more cuts from elbows and so more guys wouldn’t be able to move on in the tournament. And clinching is how you defend not getting elbowed.
The uneducated fan boos when the clinch happens. Uneducated MMA fans do the same thing when Jiu Jitsu happens in a fight. I understand clinching and the art of it. I understand trips and dumps. Unfortunately here in America, people want to see big punches and big kicks. It can be difficult to understand Muay Thai. Even the scoring is a little difficult to follow. Kickboxing is very similar to boxing. That makes it easy to follow.
(Roufus [at far left] with Sergio Pettis, Anthony Pettis, Ben Askren, and Roufusport BJJ coach Daniel Wanderley. Photo via Dave Mandel/Sherdog.)
Duke Roufus had an illustrious career as a kickboxer before becoming even more well-known as an MMA coach. In recent years, his highly regardedRoufusport camp has produced such talents as UFC champion Anthony Pettis, his younger brother Sergio, and former Bellator champ Ben Askren. In advance of the Glory 13 event in Tokyo this Saturday that Roufus is doing color commentary for, CagePotato sat down with him to look back on the twists and turns of his career, and look towards the future of some of his biggest stars.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: What would you say your role with Glory is, Duke? We hear and see you doing color commentary during events but when you were in Chicago last fall, you also had a big presence in all sorts of other pre-event activities.
DUKE ROUFUS: Well, about ten years ago they had me do color commentary for K-1 on pay-per-view broadcasts. This was really a natural progression when they came back with Glory. My role is that of a color commentator but I’m also just a huge kickboxing enthusiast. I love the sport. I’m just as big a fan as a participant.
We’ve always heard Joe Rogan talk about “K-1 level striking” in certain UFC fighters — meaning that a particular guy had great striking, so much so that he could survive in K-1, which was recognized as the top kickboxing promotion in the world. Has Glory replaced K-1 in that role?
Yeah, for sure. K-1 just struggled internally. Japanese kickboxing and MMA have had some internal issues. The guys from Glory have really stepped up. They are also huge kickboxing enthusiasts. Now, all the best fighters are fighting for Glory. We also did something similar to what MMA did with unified rules, and we’ve tried to set that up for kickboxing. We want to make it a fan-friendly fight. The fans can really tune in and enjoy the fights. We created a rule set that makes it fun for the fan.
As an expert kickboxer and one who knows Muay Thai so well, don’t you think that the Glory rules could be better, though? You have many fighters who have trained and competed under full Muay Thai rules — using elbows, using the clinch, using sweeps — and now they get to this point and they’re not allowed to use these effective weapons.
Well, with those things allowed, the tournaments would have a different outcome, that’s for sure. There would be more cuts from elbows and so more guys wouldn’t be able to move on in the tournament. And clinching is how you defend not getting elbowed.
The uneducated fan boos when the clinch happens. Uneducated MMA fans do the same thing when Jiu Jitsu happens in a fight. I understand clinching and the art of it. I understand trips and dumps. Unfortunately here in America, people want to see big punches and big kicks. It can be difficult to understand Muay Thai. Even the scoring is a little difficult to follow. Kickboxing is very similar to boxing. That makes it easy to follow.
At the end of the day people don’t care how stylistic a fighter is sometimes. They don’t care about his background in Muay Thai. They just want to see two people put on an incredible show. It’s not about education, it’s about entertaining.
That’s why I moved back into K-1 to fight. Muay Thai is a hard sport to make it in. You struggle financially. It’s like saying, “Hey we gotta go back to the old UFC.” As a purist, yeah that’s cool. But at the end of the day we want mass audiences. It’s why there’s a shot clock in basketball, even college. Dean Smith used to have his Tar Heels get up by ten points and then run the four corners offense to run out the clock.
How did you start getting so involved in MMA?
I always tell people that I wasn’t a big fan of old-school UFC. It was more about finding out who the best street fighter was. And the best street fighter is who can react best to getting hit and doesn’t get knocked out. Street fighting is so far away from real prize-fighting.
But there were a few different things that pulled me towards MMA. In 2002, Duane Ludwig had me help him out for a training camp in Vegas. “Bang” fought Genki Sudo and I haven’t missed a fight show since then.
I also had old friends like Mirko Cro Cop and Mark Hunt from K-1 who got involved in MMA. To see them do great in Pride, I couldn’t help but watch. Chute Boxe was also a big influence. Seeing their success in MMA with a striking background caught my attention.
In 2004 I started having some young students who would get into MMA and in 2005 we brought Stephan Bonnar to the gym, and a week after a little Anthony Pettis joined.
Striking for MMA and for kickboxing can be very different. Did transitioning to coaching striking for MMA come easy, or was it challenging?
I purposely pulled myself out of the kickboxing world to be able to coach for MMA. If I were an actor, I would be a method actor. I started sparring with these guys a lot. I actually did wrestle in high school a little bit. That’s not saying I’m very good but I never wimped out when it hit the mat. I’m a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu now. I’ve won the Grapplers Quest at the [UFC] Fan Expo and won the Arnold’s. I’m comfortable on the ground.
So, back to when I started coaching for MMA, what I did was I started sparring a lot. I got used to trying to strike while being taken down.
Another collaborator and good friend of mine is Pat Miletich. Early on, I spent a lot of time at MFS with him. He’s an old, good and dear friend of mine. We have a lot of same philosophies and mindset when it comes to fighting and training.
Now, it’s funny because things are kind of going backwards. I’ve got a lot of amateur students catching the Glory bug. So, I teach a different curriculum depending on what they are preparing for. It’s just like if you were getting ready for the gi world championships you’d train differently if you were preparing for MMA or even Metamoris.
I enjoy that, though. I’ve been training since I was four and doing competitions since I was six. I enjoy the process of figuring out what it takes to win. One of my favorite compliments that I’ve ever gotten came from Ben Askren. He told me that I have good takedown defense. That was just about the best thing anyone could tell me, considering that he’s a world class wrestler.
I like to get in there with the guys and play around. All that helps me be able to work with Askren. What I teach Ben is anti-striking. We reverse engineer striking in every little nuance. I teach him how to punch hard, about weight distribution so that he can read the keys and cues. That’s why he doesn’t get hit. People say they want to see Askren go in there and stand and bang. That’s silly. That’s like saying,”we want to see Roufus wrestle.” No one cares to see my old fat ass wrestle.
If that’s the way you feel, why are you fighting MMA? Ben said it best after he beat [Douglas] Lima, right to the crowd when he told them “if you want to watch two guys stand and fight all night there’s a sport called boxing.”
Philosophically, is being a striking coach any different than being a grappling coach?
It’s harder teaching striking to people. In wrestling, in Jiu Jitsu, you get to practice killing people every day. You pin, you tap them out; it’s practice killing. If we try and kill each other in striking in practice every day, we would die.
Striking is a very chaotic art. I could grapple all day for the next five years and I could never submit our BJJ instructor, Daniel Wanderley. It’s the same thing with wrestling. I would never be able to pin Askren.
In striking anyone can knock anyone out. I’d have to hit Askren with a shovel to pin him. I’d have to roofie Daniel to get a submission on him. That’s the weird thing about striking. It’s very dangerous.
You gotta realize what’s working in striking for your guys and you’ve got to give some options to them. People want to see Pettis fight stand-up every fight for five rounds. You can’t do that all the time, you’d wreck your body. That’s why he mixes it up. He can take you down, submit you or kick you.
I remember when I started coaching Stephan and he was going to fight James Irvin. Right before we went out there, I told Stephan that if he threw a left hook at him, to duck under and take him down. Stephan said, “you’re my striking coach and you’re telling me to go to the ground?”
I told him, “I’m your winning coach.” He got a Kimura on Irvin and won the fight. Fighters are a little misled sometimes.
So, it isn’t about making a point that you can turn grapplers into slick strikers? You just want to make sure they win?
I try to stay out of the spotlight. That’s why I fought; I had my own lil’ moment to shine. Now, I live vicariously through these athletes.
Like with Anthony arm-barring Ben Henderson. Before the fight I said that he can beat him any way he wants. People said, “Yeah, yeah, right.” Anthony is the prototype for the future of MMA.
Speaking of Pettis, how frustrating is it to have him injured and not be able to keep the ball rolling?
It’s the sport. He also fought five times in the WEC in one year at one point. Anthony wishes he could fight more than anyone else. He’s got a great new contract and it makes him want to fight even more (laughs).
Anthony’s younger brother Sergio just made a successful UFC debut. How happy are you with his performance?
Sergio is doing great. He looked great in that fight against an excellent fighter and he can do even better. He was nervous but he handled it very well.
You had a successful fight career. Now, you’ve got a top kickboxing team, a top MMA team. You do color-commentary for an international promotion. Are you surprised that all this has happened from martial arts? Or, did you always know you’d do all this?
Both. I’m surprised, but it’s what I wanted. It’s just one of those things.
“Eric was so excited to work with our athletes that he decided to come in of his own accord and speak to our guys on the day of their fights. So he’ll be backstage with them, getting them mentally ready to put on the best show they can. It’s going to be awesome,” head coach Duke Roufus says.
“Eric is a huge influence in my life, and has been a daily motivation to me.”
Thomas recently went to Milwaukee to get Duke Roufus’ boys (check out video of the talk above) all wound up. We suppose the idea that “when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you will succeed,” that Thomas preaches has a more literal-than-usual meaning and application for pro fighters, so the pairing makes sense.
What we’re wondering, though, is how much motivational shouting fighters can take back stage. Burt Watson may not take kindly to having to share platitude air space with another guy. We’ll keep you apprised of any beef that may or may not develop tonight backstage at UFC on Fox 6.
“Eric was so excited to work with our athletes that he decided to come in of his own accord and speak to our guys on the day of their fights. So he’ll be backstage with them, getting them mentally ready to put on the best show they can. It’s going to be awesome,” head coach Duke Roufus says.
“Eric is a huge influence in my life, and has been a daily motivation to me.”
Thomas recently went to Milwaukee to get Duke Roufus’ boys (check out video of the talk above) all wound up. We suppose the idea that “when you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, you will succeed,” that Thomas preaches has a more literal-than-usual meaning and application for pro fighters, so the pairing makes sense.
What we’re wondering, though, is how much motivational shouting fighters can take back stage. Burt Watson may not take kindly to having to share platitude air space with another guy. We’ll keep you apprised of any beef that may or may not develop tonight backstage at UFC on Fox 6.
