Duke Roufus

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Duke Roufus
Born Jeffrey Ryan Roufus
(1970-02-19) 19 February 1970 (age 54)
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Nationality United States American
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Weight 220 lb (100 kg; 16 st)
Division Super Heavyweight
Style Kickboxing, Muay Thai, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Taekwondo
Fighting out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
Team Roufusport
Rank 4th degree black belt in Kickboxing
3rd degree black belt in Taekwondo
Purple belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Years active 1988-2001, 2005, 2007
Kickboxing record
Total 45
Wins 36
By knockout 26
Losses 8
Draws 1
No contests 0
Other information
Notable relatives Rick Roufus, brother
Notable students Alan Belcher, Stephan Bonnar, Matt Mitrione, Anthony Pettis, Jens Pulver, Ben Rothwell, Ben Askren, Erik Koch, Phil Brooks

Jeffrey Ryan "Duke" Roufus[1] (born February 19, 1970) is an American former kickboxer who is now one of the top trainers as head coach of the Roufusport competition team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.[2][3] He is one of the most recognizable striking coaches in North America, and is considered to be one of the top trainers of Muay Thai outside of Thailand.[4]

Career

Duke "Rufilin" Roufus started training in martial arts at the age of 4[5] and is the younger brother of legendary kickboxer Rick "The Jet" Roufus.

His professional kickboxing and Muay Thai career saw him collect a number of titles including 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 during the 1990s.

Roufus won the IKF International Kickboxing Federation Pro Muay Thai Rules World Super Heavyweight Title on December 4, 1998 in Milwaukee Wisconsin, USA over Hiriwa TeRangi of New Zealand by unanimous decision 50-43 on all 3 judges cards.

On March 19, 1999, in Milwaukee Wisconsin, USA in his only defense of the title, Roufus quieted all the critics by starting hard and fast and then landed the "A Bomb" on Australia's WKA World Champion Grant "The Bomber" Barker. In a combination 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.

Roufus voluntarily vacated his Super Heavyweight Title to move down to the Heavyweight Muay Thai Division and soon after, claiming that he was 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 due to his busy schedule with promoting his own events and training fighters. His final fight record was 36-8-1/26 and in pro boxing he was 2-0/1.

On two 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 an accomplished trainer, working with many UFC/WEC stars including former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis, Alan Belcher, Pat Barry, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell, Matt Mitrione and former U.S. Olympian and former Bellator World Champion Ben Askren. Former students include former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver and The Ultimate Fighter Season One star Stephan Bonnar.

Duke Roufus and business partner Scott Joffe operate Roufusport Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA. Roufus and Joffe also produce North American Fighting Championship (formerly Gladiators Fighting) live combat sports events in the U.S. and Canada.

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. In January 2003, he was named one of Milwaukee Magazine's "50 People You Should Know."

Honors and titles

Kickboxing record

Kickboxing record
36 wins (26 KO's), 8 losses, 1 draw
Result Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Win Brazil Eduardo Maiorino TKO (Leg Kicks) Colosseum 5 May 25, 2007 2 0:56
Win Croatia Sinisa Andrijasevic Decision (Unanimous) Heavyweight Gladiators June 3, 2005 5 3:00 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Win Mexico Pedro Fernandez TKO (Corner Stoppage) Heavyweight Gladiators September 29, 2001 4 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Loss Germany Stefan Leko TKO K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas August 11, 2001 2 2:34 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Loss Canada Michael McDonald Decision (Unanimous) K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA May 5, 2001 3 3:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Win Poland Tomasz Kucharzewski TKO (3 Knockdowns) K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA May 5, 2001 1 2:26 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Win United States Dewey Cooper Decision (unanimous) October 23, 1999 5 3:00 Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Win Australia Grant Barker KO (High Kick) March 19, 1999 1 0:39 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Defended IKF Super Heavyweight World title.
Win New Zealand Hiriwa TeRangi Decision (Unanimous) December 4, 1998 Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA Won IKF Super Heavyweight World title.
Win United States Patrick Smith TKO (Leg Kick) June 25, 1997 2 Ledyard, Connecticut, USA Defended KICK Super Heavyweight World title.
Loss South Africa Mike Bernardo TKO K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle March 10, 1996 2 1:37 Yokohama, Japan
Win Australia Stan Longinidis KO (Overhand Right Straight) World Cup of Martial Arts March 25, 1995 1 0:41 Ledyard, Connecticut, USA Won WKA, ISKA and WAKO World Super Heavyweight titles
Loss Switzerland Andy Hug KO (Kick to the Body) 1994 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup October 2, 1994 3 2:17
Win Japan Takeshi Tanaka KO (Right Punch) K-1 Revenge September 18, 1994 2 0:05 Yokohama, Japan
Win United States Zinnie Reynolds June 3, 1993 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Won WKA North American Championship

Legend:       Win       Loss       Draw/No contest

See also

References

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External links

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