Jeffrey Ryan "Duke" Roufus (born February 19, 1970) is an American former

kickboxer Kickboxing is a combat sport focused on kicking and punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is practiced for self-defense, general ...

and head coach of the

Roufusport Roufusport (also known as Roufusport MMA Academy) is a mixed martial arts gym based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Known as one of the top gyms in MMA, it has produced two former UFC champions, Anthony Pettis (former UFC Lightweight Champion) and Tyro ...

based in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, United States. He is a well-known striking coach in North America.

Career

Duke Roufus started training in

martial arts Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; combat sport, competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; a ...

at an early age. He is the younger brother of kickboxer Rick "The Jet" Roufus. His professional

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

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. 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 36-8-1/26 and in pro boxing he was 2-0/1. 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 UFC/WEC

MMA Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on strike (attack), striking, grappling and ground f ...

fighters including former UFC Lightweight Champion

Anthony Pettis Anthony Paul Pettis (born January 27, 1987) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is currently signed to the Professional Fighters League. Pettis formerly fought in the Welterweight, Lightweight, and Featherweight divisions of th ...

Alan Belcher Alan Belcher (born April 24, 1984) is an American bare-knuckle boxer and former mixed martial artist. A professional from 2004 until 2015, he is perhaps best known for his 15-fight tenure with the UFC. Background Belcher was born in Jonesboro ...

, Pat Barry,

Erik Koch Erik Jon Koch (born October 4, 1988) is an American mixed martial artist who competed in the Welterweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. A professional competitor since 2007, he formerly competed for the WEC. Background Koch wa ...

, Ben Rothwell,

Matt Mitrione Matthew Steven Mitrione (born July 15, 1978) is an American mixed martial artist and former American football player, who competed for both the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and most recently for Bellator MMA. Prior to embarking on an MMA ...

, former U.S. Olympian and former Bellator World Champion

Ben Askren Benjamin Michael Askren (born July 18, 1984) is an American former professional mixed martial artist and amateur wrestler. Askren was the former Bellator and ONE Welterweight Champion, remaining undefeated for over a decade before competing in ...

and former UFC Welterweight Champion

Tyron Woodley Tyron Woodley (born April 17, 1982) is an American professional mixed martial artist. He is a former UFC Welterweight Champion who defended his title four times. A professional since 2009, Woodley also competed at Strikeforce and was an NCAA Di ...

. Other former students include head coach of Church Street Boxing gym in NYC Jason Strout, former UFC Lightweight Champion

Jens Pulver Jens Johnnie Pulver (born December 6, 1974) is an American retired professional mixed martial artist and undefeated boxer and kickboxer. Pulver was the inaugural UFC Lightweight Champion in addition to serving as the head coach on ''The Ultimate ...

, ''The Ultimate Fighter Season One'' star

Stephan Bonnar Stephan Patrick Bonnar (April 4, 1977 – December 22, 2022) was an American mixed martial artist. Bonnar competed as a Light Heavyweight in the UFC for most of his career. Bonnar was the runner-up on The Ultimate Fighter 1, his TUF Ultimate Fi ...

and

CM Punk Phillip Jack Brooks (born October 26, 1978), better known by the ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler, sports commentator, actor, and retired mixed martial artist currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Best known for ...

. Duke Roufus, business partner Scott Joffe and

operate Roufusport Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Roufus has also served as color commentator for K-1 on

ESPN2 ESPN2 is an American multinational pay television network owned by ESPN Inc., a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company (which owns a controlling 80% stake) and Hearst Communications (which owns the remaining 20%). ESPN2 was initially fo ...

and has appeared on TSN in Canada, ''

Walker Texas Ranger ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' is an American action crime television series created by Leslie Greif and Paul Haggis. It was inspired by the film ''Lone Wolf McQuade'', with both this series and that film starring Chuck Norris as a member of the Te ...

'' 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

*1998 I.K.F. World Super Heavyweight Champion *1997 K.I.C.K. World Super Heavyweight Champion *1996 W.K.B.A. World Super Heavyweight Champion *1995 W.A.K.O. World Super Heavyweight Champion *1995 I.S.K.A. World Super Heavyweight champion *1995 W.K.A. World Super Heavyweight champion *1993 W.K.A. North American Super Heavyweight Champion *1991 W.A.K.O. World Championships in London, UK +84 kg (Light-Contact)

Kickboxing record (Incomplete)

, - , , Win , Lawson Baker , Gladiators Fighting's 50th -"Knockout Kings" ,

, United States , Decision (Unanimous) , align="center", 3 , align="center", , , - , , Win ,

Eduardo Maiorino Eduardo "Morpheus" Maiorino (August 16, 1979 – December 23, 2012) was a Brazilian professional kickboxer and mixed martial artist. He was a three time Brazilian Heavyweight Muay Thai Champion, the K-1 Brazil 2004 Tournament finalist and c ...

, Colosseum 5 ,

Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

, Canada , TKO (Leg Kicks) , align="center", 2 , align="center", 0:56 , , - , , Win , Sinisa Andrijasevic , Heavyweight Gladiators ,

, United States , Decision (Unanimous) , align="center", 5 , align="center", 3:00 , - , , Loss ,

Marvin Eastman Marvin Lee Eastman (born June 8, 1971) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist and kickboxer. A professional MMA competitor from 2000 until 2013, he competed in K-1, the UFC, World Fighting Alliance, Maximum Fighting Champions ...

K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Las Vegas This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a kickboxing promotion based in Hong Kong. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993 at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 2023 events 2022 events 2021 events ...

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, United States , KO (knees to the body) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 0:19 , , - , , Win , Pedro Fernandez , Heavyweight Gladiators ,

, United States , TKO (Corner Stoppage) , align="center", 4 , align="center", , , - , , Loss ,

Stefan Leko Stefan Leko (born June 3, 1974) is a German heavyweight kickboxer. He is the current WKA Super-Heavyweight world champion in kickboxing, and former Muay Thai world heavyweight champion and Kickboxing world super-heavyweight champion, WMTA, WKN, ...

K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a kickboxing promotion based in Hong Kong. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993 at Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 2023 events 2022 events 2021 events ...

, United States , TKO , align="center", 2 , align="center", 2:34 , , - , , Loss , Michael McDonald ,

K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA This is a list of events held and scheduled by the K-1, a kickboxing promotion based in Hong Kong. The first event, K-1 Sanctuary I, took place on March 30, 1993 at Korakuen Hall, Kōrakuen Hall in Tokyo, Japan. 2023 events 2022 events ...

, United States , Decision (Unanimous) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Win , Tomasz Kucharzewski ,

, United States , TKO (2 knockdowns) , align="center", 1 , align="center", 2:26 , , - , , Win ,

Dewey Cooper Dewey Cooper (born November 10, 1974) is an American former kickboxer and boxer who competed in the cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions. After becoming a two-time world champion in 2000 by taking the WKC heavyweight and WKF cruiserweight ...

, ,

, United States , Decision (unanimous) , align="center", 5 , align="center", 3:00 , , - , , Win , Grant Barker , ,

, United States , KO (High Kick) , align="center", 1 , align="center", 0:39 , Defended IKF Super Heavyweight World title. , - , , Win , Hiriwa TeRangi , ,

, United States , Decision (Unanimous) , align="center", , align="center", , Won IKF Super Heavyweight World title. , - , , Win , Patrick Smith , ,

Ledyard, Connecticut Ledyard is a Town in New London County, Connecticut, United States, located along the Thames River. The town is named after Colonel William Ledyard, a Revolutionary War officer who was killed at the Battle of Groton Heights. The population was 1 ...

, United States , TKO (Leg Kick) , align="center", 2 , align="center", , Defended

KICK A kick is a physical Strike (attack), strike using the leg, in unison usually with an area of the knee or lower using the foot, heel, tibia (shin), ball of the foot, blade of the foot, toes or knee (the latter is also known as a knee (strike), ...

Super Heavyweight World title. , - , , Loss ,

Mike Bernardo Michael Shawn Bernardo (28 July 1969 – 14 February 2012) was a South African kickboxer and boxer from Cape Town. Bernardo was known as Beru-chan in Japan, where he has taken part in K-1 World GPs since 1994. He holds notable wins ove ...

, K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle ,

Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of To ...

, TKO , align="center", 2 , align="center", 1:37 , , - , , Win ,

Stan Longinidis Stan "The Man" Longinidis (born 25 June 1965) is an Australian retired heavyweight kickboxer and 8-time world kickboxing champion. Born in Melbourne of Greek ethnicity, Longinidis is one of the few fighters to win world titles in four differen ...

, World Cup of Martial Arts ,

, United States , KO (Overhand Right Straight) , align="center", 1 , align="center", 0:41 , Won WKA,

ISKA The ISKA (originally International Sport Karate Association, later also called the International Sport Kickboxing Association) is one of the major international bodies regulating sport karate and kickboxing matches, and is based in the United ...

and WAKO World Super Heavyweight titles , - , , Loss ,

Andy Hug Andreas "Andy" Hug (7 September 1964 – 24 August 2000) was a Swiss karateka and kickboxer who competed in the heavyweight division. Considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight kickboxers of all time, Hug was renowned for his ability t ...

, 1994 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup , , KO (Kick to the Body) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 2:17 , , - , , Win , Takeshi Tanaka ,

K-1 Revenge ''K-1 Revenge'', known in Japan as , is a video game based on the K-1 martial arts organization in Hong Kong, developed by Daft and published by Xing Entertainment in Japan in 1997, and by Jaleco in North America in 1999. It is the fifth game in t ...

, KO (Right Punch) , align="center", 2 , align="center", 0:05 , , - , , Win , Zinnie Reynolds , ,

, United States , , align="center", , align="center", , Won WKA North American Championship , - , - , colspan=9 , ''Legend'':

References

External links

Roufusport.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roufus, Jeff 1970 births Living people American male kickboxers Kickboxers from Wisconsin Heavyweight kickboxers American Muay Thai practitioners American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Kickboxing trainers Mixed martial arts trainers

Career

Honors and titles

Kickboxing record (Incomplete)

See also

References

External links