Duke Roufus on family and fighting
Duke Roufus talks fighting and family, and why he is so great a trainer for Anthony Pettis and Sergio Pettis, and why they are so great for him.
One evening in Atlanta in the late 70s I was at a karate event hotel, watching a tape of then PKA light heavyweight champion Jeff Smith fighting, with Smith himself, and a kid of maybe 12. As the tape rolled, you could see Smith walk out with his cornerman, who was a kid.
“Hey, that’s a kid,” I blurted out.
“Yah,” said the kid, giving me a look. “That’s me.”
The kid was Rick Roufus, who was heralded then, and got more and more famous with the passing years. He ended up being one of the greatest kickboxers in US history, with wins over Ernesto Hoost, Rob Kaman, Jerome Turcan, Stan Longinidis, and Maurice Smith, among many, many others. Rick “The Jet” fought professionally in kickboxing, boxing, and MMA for a generation, from 1985 to 2012.
Growing up in his shadow was younger brother and admittedly less talented Duke Roufus, now one of the greatest trainers in mixed martial arts.
In an interview with MMAjunkie, Roufus talked about family and fighting, and how his experience makes him such and extraordinary trainer for former UFC lightweight champion Athony Pettis, and his brother Sergio, who is 3-2 in the UFC at flyweight.
The thing then was PKA kickboxing,” said Duke, as transcribed by Ben Fowlkes. “My brother was four years older than me, so I’m 16 and I see him winning the world championship on ESPN in front of a huge audience in Atlanta. I’d always followed my brother.
I think that’s my biggest asset to Sergio. Because my brother was just a prolific star. … People are like, ‘You’re in the shadow of your brother.’ But you know what, I got opportunities faster because of being Rick Roufus’ brother and Pat Roufus’ son. At the end of the day, I’ve still got to win and perform, but it did fast-track my career. Same with Sergio.
Duke is more than a trainer to the Pettis brothers, whose father was killed in 2003.
Duke is a father figure to me, said Sergio. I’ve been with him for eight years. I grew up listening to his advice, inside the cage and outside the cage.
A beautiful thing is, the help goes both ways. When Anthony Pettis bought his mother a house and a car, Duke was moved to heal some rifts within his own family.
Fighting is a tough thing to do as a family sometimes,” explained Roufus. And honestly, you let pride get in the way of love.
When I saw Anthony do that for his mom, I immediately reached out (because) I hadn’t spoke to my dad in a while, said Roufus, holding back tears. I reached out to my brother Rick. And we all united this year at Christmas. I was just moved by the whole situation, and as well, being a parent. I’m thinking to myself, some day my daughter is going to be Anthony’s age. I hope she treats me with the respect and admiration that Anthony, Sergio, and their brother Ray have for their mother.
They can say that I’m a role model in their lives, but it goes both ways. They’re role models to me, too. And that’s what makes the relationship a two-way street. I’m happy about it.”