As a writer who has made a career out of doing interviews and features, I have come to learn that timing means everything. When fighters are locked in the repetitive media grind of fight week or in the middle of cutting weight, there are times when getting through a basic pre-fight interview can be a […]
As a writer who has made a career out of doing interviews and features, I have come to learn that timing means everything. When fighters are locked in the repetitive media grind of fight week or in the middle of cutting weight, there are times when getting through a basic pre-fight interview can be a […]
While much of the world calms itself for the holidays, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate are going full bore. The two bitter rivals share an animosity that transcends your standard pre-fight hype, with both fighters exchanging wicked barbs about the personal and professional attributes of the other woman. It all culminates Dec. 28 at UFC […]
While much of the world calms itself for the holidays, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate are going full bore. The two bitter rivals share an animosity that transcends your standard pre-fight hype, with both fighters exchanging wicked barbs about the personal and professional attributes of the other woman. It all culminates Dec. 28 at UFC […]
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.
Chris Weidman and I have a lot in common. We’re both the second of three children, we’re both from New York…OK, so maybe we don’t have a lot in common, but as middle children, we’re both prone to feelings of neglect, isolation, and underappreciation from those closest to us.
They call it Middle Child Syndrome, and it ranks right up there with Restless Leg Syndrome on the list of completely made up afflictions. But where I was lucky enough to grow up with an older brother who would only kick my ass when I rightfully deserved it (Christmas, birthday, bar mitzvah, etc.), it seems that Weidman’s older brother was less a neglectful-yet-guiding figure in his upbringing and more a bitter, sociopathic sicko hell bent on ensuring his misery.
Listening to Weidman recount some of the more horrific beatings he endured at the hands of his brother — which included having a weight thrown at his head, being dropped from a tree and getting stomped by his brother’s friends on “Freshman Friday” — is sickening to say the least. Perhaps even sadder than the fact that many of these beatings ended in Weidman being hospitalized, however, was the following admission:
My brother definitely had a history of beating me up and abusing me. He was a badass dude…If he had your back, you didn’t have to worry about a thing…unfortunately for me, he didn’t have my back a lot growing up. I guess he didn’t like me that much, so he’d beat the crap out of me and made other people beat me up.
(Props: Bobby Razak via r/MMA.)
Chris Weidman and I have a lot in common. We’re both the second of three children, we’re both from New York…OK, so maybe we don’t have a lot in common, but as middle children, we’re both prone to feelings of neglect, isolation, and underappreciation from those closest to us.
They call it Middle Child Syndrome, and it ranks right up there with Restless Leg Syndrome on the list of completely made up afflictions. But where I was lucky enough to grow up with an older brother who would only kick my ass when I rightfully deserved it (Christmas, birthday, bar mitzvah, etc.), it seems that Weidman’s older brother was less a neglectful-yet-guiding figure in his upbringing and more a bitter, sociopathic sicko hell bent on ensuring his misery.
Listening to Weidman recount some of the more horrific beatings he endured at the hands of his brother — which included having a weight thrown at his head, being dropped from a tree and getting stomped by his brother’s friends on “Freshman Friday” — is sickening to say the least. Perhaps even sadder than the fact that many of these beatings ended in Weidman being hospitalized, however, was the following admission:
My brother definitely had a history of beating me up and abusing me. He was a badass dude…If he had your back, you didn’t have to worry about a thing…unfortunately for me, he didn’t have my back a lot growing up. I guess he didn’t like me that much, so he’d beat the crap out of me and made other people beat me up.
Now, I’m not going to act like it’s abnormal for brothers to quarrel, and I’m surely not about to go on some anti-bullying tirade, because quite honestly, the idea of “ending” bullying is as laughably misguided a concept as I have come across in modern society. For all the flack bullying gets for crushing the self-esteem of today’s thin-skinned, fragile youths, it also fails to get its due credit for actually forming diamonds out of coal every now and again.
Just look at Weidman, who admits in the video that the adversity he faced growing up made him who he is today: a man who is as mentally strong as he is physically. A man who fears nothing, not even a champion notorious for breaking world-renowned competitors before they could even step foot into the cage with him. Chris Weidman was baptized in fire. He crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side, so to speak. If anything, he is a testament to the positive long-term effects of bullying.
But what Weidman’s older brother did to him reaches far beyond simple bullying. It violates every basic principle of what it means to be “family.” Hell, it violates every basic principle of humanity. Because while brothers are destined to physically and verbally berate one another from birth until death, they’re also supposed to have each other’s back at the end of the day. It kind of what separates family from everyone else, and to hear Weidman so casually discuss how this basic sense of trust was repeatedly violated by his own blood is as disturbing a revelation as it gets.
Of course, the question now becomes, “Has Weidman’s brother seen the err of his ways, or has his UFC champion lil’ bro been forced to do it for him?” Well…
So basically, Weidman’s brother is still a sadistic asshole, but at least he knows how to handle him now. Hooray for happy endings?
Last week, UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown herniated two discs in his back and was forced to pull out of his scheduled fight against Carlos Condit this Saturday at UFC on Fox 9. As he explained to CagePotato, he initially hoped a cortisone shot would help him feel well enough to fight, but that didn’t pan out.
Now, he’s benched from most physical activity for a month other than his therapy exercises. The good news is that if rehab goes well, Brown could be back training full contact in two months.
“The prognosis for me is basically that for one month I’ve got nothing but rehab. There’s no bending over to pick anything up and I can’t have any impact in any shape or form. No running. Nothing like any of those types of things,” Brown says.
“After two months, assuming rehab goes well, I’ll get a second cortisone shot and should be able to go full contact again.”
If Brown does his physical therapy to a ‘T’, he says he’s told that he should be able to avoid surgery on his back. Despite being so badly hurt, Brown says that he couldn’t bring himself to pull out of the fight on his own.
“I knew in my heart I wanted to do it,” he says.
(Brown smashes up Jordan Mein at UFC on FOX 7 in April. / Photo via Getty)
Last week, UFC welterweight contender Matt Brown herniated two discs in his back and was forced to pull out of his scheduled fight against Carlos Condit this Saturday at UFC on Fox 9. As he explained to CagePotato, he initially hoped a cortisone shot would help him feel well enough to fight, but that didn’t pan out.
Now, he’s benched from most physical activity for a month other than his therapy exercises. The good news is that if rehab goes well, Brown could be back training full contact in two months.
“The prognosis for me is basically that for one month I’ve got nothing but rehab. There’s no bending over to pick anything up and I can’t have any impact in any shape or form. No running. Nothing like any of those types of things,” Brown says.
“After two months, assuming rehab goes well, I’ll get a second cortisone shot and should be able to go full contact again.”
If Brown does his physical therapy to a ‘T’, he says he’s told that he should be able to avoid surgery on his back. Despite being so badly hurt, Brown says that he couldn’t bring himself to pull out of the fight on his own.
“I knew in my heart I wanted to do it,” he says.
“In my head I knew it probably wasn’t the best idea but I couldn’t get myself to say it out loud. I needed [my family and coaches] to push me to pull out of the fight.”
Brown admits that watching or even talking about fights right now is a bit of a bummer for him, given that he was so close to a huge fight and now can’t even move without pain. He doesn’t allow for self-pity to set in, however.
“I can’t change it so I just need to go about my way and enjoy the fights,” he says of the UFC on Fox 9 card.
As for when he does return to fighting, Brown’s immediate target hasn’t changed.
“Carlos Condit is still on my mind,” he says. “I definitely want to still fight him if that works out.”
(Take it easy guys, you’re scaring the children. Photo via Getty.)
So Dana White recently sat down for an interview with Sportsnet, during which he gushed over Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva like a little schoolboy. Not that I blame him; I’ve been talking up that fight with such bombast, you’d think it was my sex life (*three successive rimshots*). And being that draws often warrant rematches, Sportsnet made sure to ask DW about the possibility of seeing Hunt vs. Bigfoot II in the future:
Every morning when I open my eyes, the first thing I think about is Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva. The sickest heavyweight fight I’ve ever seen. I was jumping around the room like a little kid during that fight. I can’t stop talking about that fight, I can’t stop thinking about that fight. It was amazing.
In that fight, Hunt broke his hand in two places so he’s gonna be out for a while. So no, there won’t be an immediate rematch. I’m assuming that Silva’s gonna want to fight again before Hunt’s back.
I’m not saying I’m glad that Mark Hunt broke his hand, but I’m kind of glad Hunt broke his hand and here’s why:
(Take it easy guys, you’re scaring the children. Photo via Getty.)
So Dana White recently sat down for an interview with Sportsnet, during which he gushed over Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva like a little schoolboy. Not that I blame him; I’ve been talking up that fight with such bombast, you’d think it was my sex life (*plays three successive rimshots*). And being that draws often warrant rematches, Sportsnet made sure to ask DW about the possibility of seeing Hunt vs. Bigfoot II in the future:
Every morning when I open my eyes, the first thing I think about is Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva. The sickest heavyweight fight I’ve ever seen. I was jumping around the room like a little kid during that fight. I can’t stop talking about that fight, I can’t stop thinking about that fight. It was amazing.
In that fight, Hunt broke his hand in two places so he’s gonna be out for a while. So no, there won’t be an immediate rematch. I’m assuming that Silva’s gonna want to fight again before Hunt’s back.
I’m not saying I’m glad that Mark Hunt broke his hand, but I’m kind of glad Hunt broke his hand and here’s why:
We Don’t Need It
Part of the reason Hunt vs. Bigfoot ended up exceeding our expectations was thanks to the fact that our expectations weren’t all that high to begin with. Although I likened this fight to the next coming of Christ, it seemed that not everyone in the MMA blogosphere shared by unabashed fanobyism. The general consensus seemed to be that Antonio Silva would take down Hunt and submit him with ease, or that Hunt would tag and bag Silva before he could do so.
Instead, Silva and Hunt chose to engage in a five round, back and forth slugfest that was as surprising as it was enthralling, and something that will likely not be replicated in a second contest. I don’t want to see Hunt vs. Silva II for the same reasons I fear seeing Anchorman 2; my expectations are too high. I’m destined to be let down. The first fight was legendary; one of the greatest (if no the greatest) in the history of the UFC’s heavyweight division. Let’s just leave well enough alone.
They Don’t Need It
Hunt vs. Silva is one of those rare fights where a win would do little more than a draw in terms of where it would place either man in the heavyweight division. Both men have recently proven themselves to be upper-echelon fighters who are just a cut below championship material (in the case of Hunt, that statement was as shocking to type as it was depressing). Having them fight again will do nothing to change this.
A win for either man wouldn’t move them up the ranks — although Hunt’s performance was good enough to earn him a spot in the UFC’s Top 10 rankings (presented by RAM! Also, dogshit.) — and it certainly wouldn’t put either of them in line for a title shot. While those components in and of themselves shouldn’t define matchmaking, or our interest in a fight for that matter, they also highlight how truly unnecessary this potential rematch would be.
If Hunt and Silva are destined to fight again, let’s have it happen out of necessity, not novelty. Let’s give the idea of a rematch some time to stew, in any case.
Seriously, *They* Don’t Need It
Suffice it to say, Hunt and Bigfoot punched each other in the head a lot last Friday. I mean, just look at these goddamn FightMetric numbers. They are ridiculous.
Yahoo Sports’ Frank Curreri wrote a great piece detailing how much punishment Hunt and Silva have taken over their careers (and especially as of late), and although I will always hate Bigfoot for “truly” ending the Fedor era, I don’t hate him enough to wish another beating like that on him. The same goes for Hunt.
But with Hunt out for a while, one would imagine that Silva will be looking for another fight when he’s healed up. Who *would* you like to see him face?
