Coach: CM Punk understands sixth sense of fighting

Duke Roufus, one of the best coaches in MMA, recently did a long interview with MMA Fighting’s Marc Raimond, one of the best journalists in MMA. Read the whole thing here at MMA Fighting, it’s terrific.

Roufus will be coaching CM Punk at UFC 225 on Saturday, vs. combat sports dabbler and excellent fight photographer Mike Jackson. Punk took a unique ready, fire, aim approach to the sport. First he got signed with the UFC, then he started training. And then he lost in his debut; the fight looked he signed with the UFC and then started to train for the sport.

However, he didn’t quit, and on Saturday faces an opponent with a similar level of ability. Still, some fans have questioned whether it’s fair that Punk gets a main event spot.

“My dad was a fight promoter, so I understand the reality,” explained Roufus. “If you don’t have people that drive revenue, none of us have jobs. … Our lives are in the balance of guys like Punk, honestly. And Conor and GSP. I’ve been in the UFC regularly since ’05 now and I’ve seen everyone prosper because of the big-name guys. … At the end of the day it’s the golden rule — he holds the gold makes all the rules.”

Roufus also discussed Punk’s improvement.

“The first fight, I’m not gonna lie, we all rolled the dice,” conceded Roufus. “It was like this crazy science project. I haven’t been that nervous before a fight before, honestly. … I don’t have those nerves coming into this one. … It’s like he understands the sixth sense of fighting. It took him a while to get that. Everyone knows the Xs and Os of this stuff and we teach you the Xs and Os, the theories. But there’s instinct. And the instinct if there — the reactions, the seeing things before they happen. Having that sixth sense and he had it. I’m very happy about that. Sometimes fighters never get that.”

The coach said even if Punk loses on Saturday night, he loves the martial arts lifestyle, mops the mats at the gym, and will fight on. UFC president Dana White is on record as saying with a loss, Punk is out of the UFC. You can be certain Bellator is in waiting.

Roufus also discussed the culture of extreme weight cutting in MMA.

“I’m not into big weight cutting. I’m just not a big fan of it, because the game is changing. Especially a few years back, you’d be the bigger guy and wrestle and lay on people, use your size. You’re seeing less wrestling than ever, less jiu-jitsu than ever. … You can’t lose that much weight and expect a great performance in the striking. That’s something I’ve really gotten ahead of. Sergio Pettis [who fights Joseph Benavidez at UFC 225] is within 10 pounds of his weight already.”