Jeffrey Ryan "Duke" Roufus (born February 19, 1970) is an American former kickboxer and head coach of the Roufusport 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. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

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

Career

Duke Roufus started training in martial arts at an early age. He is the younger brother of kickboxer Rick "The Jet" Roufus. His professional

kickboxing 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, gen ...

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 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, Pat Barry, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell,

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, former U.S. Olympian and former

Bellator Bellator, warrior in Latin, may refer to: * Bellator MMA, a mixed martial arts promotion based in the United States * Bishop Bellator of Archaeological site of Sbeitla, Sufetula (5th century) Taxonomy * Bellator (fish), ''Bellator'' (fish), a fis ...

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. Other former students include head coach of Church Street Boxing gym in NYC

Jason Strout Jason Strout (born May 1, 1977) is an American former kickboxer and boxer from Roufusport competition team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. Professional career Strout trained under Duke Roufus at the Duke Roufus Gym (Roufusport ...

, former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver, ''The Ultimate Fighter Season One'' star Stephan Bonnar 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 ...

. 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 K-1 is a professional kickboxing promotion established in 1993, well known worldwide mainly for its heavyweight division fights and Grand Prix tournaments. In January 2012, K-1 Global Holdings Limited, a company registered in Hong Kong, acquired ...

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 ...

and has appeared on

TSN TSN may refer to: Science and technology * Translin, DNA binding protein involved in microRNA function * Taxonomic serial number, a stable and unique taxonomic serial number issued by the Integrated Taxonomic Information System * The Science Netwo ...

in Canada, '' Walker Texas Ranger'' 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 , 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 ...

, 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 , K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Las Vegas ,

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 Vega ...

, 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 , K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas ,

, United States , TKO , align="center", 2 , align="center", 2:34 , , - , , Loss , Michael McDonald , K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA ,

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

Tomasz Kucharzewski Tomasz Kucharzewski (August 13, 1968 – March 8, 2008) was a Polish-Canadian martial artist. Kucharzewski initially gained fame while fighting competitively in Kyokushin kaikan and Shidōkan styles of karate. Th ...

, K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA ,

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

, 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 ...

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

K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle 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 ...

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 ...

, TKO , align="center", 2 , align="center", 1:37 , , - , , Win , Stan Longinidis , World Cup of Martial Arts ,

, United States , KO (Overhand Right Straight) , align="center", 1 , align="center", 0:41 , Won WKA, ISKA and WAKO World Super Heavyweight titles , - , , Loss , Andy Hug , 1994 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup , , KO (Kick to the Body) , align="center", 3 , align="center", 2:17 , , - , , Win , Takeshi Tanaka , K-1 Revenge ,

, 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