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Duke Roufus
American kickboxer and trainer From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Jeffrey Ryan "Duke" Roufus[1] (born February 19, 1970) is an American former kickboxer and head coach of Roufusport based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States.[2][3] He is a well-known striking coach in North America.[3]
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Career
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Duke Roufus started training in martial arts at an early age.[4] He is the younger brother of kickboxer Rick "The Jet" Roufus.
His professional kickboxing 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. He opened Milwaukee Kickboxing & Fitness Club in June 1997.[5]
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 and in pro boxing he was 2–0.
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 mixed martial artists including former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis, Alan Belcher, Pat Barry, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell, Matt Mitrione, former U.S. Olympian and former Bellator World Champion Ben Askren and former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley.[6] Other former students include Kill Cliff FC coach Jason Strout, former UFC Lightweight Champion Jens Pulver, The Ultimate Fighter Season One star Stephan Bonnar and CM Punk.
Duke Roufus, business partner Scott Joffe and Anthony Pettis operate Roufusport Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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.
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.
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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)
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Kickboxing record (incomplete)
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See also
References
External links
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