Duke Roufus has died. He was 55. ESPN’s write-up says he passed away in his sleep:
Roufus, founder of Roufusport in Milwaukee, died in his sleep Thursday, according to longtime friend and business partner Scott Joffe. Roufus was best known in the MMA community as the head coach of multiple former world champions, including Anthony Pettis, Sergio Pettis, Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren.
“Today, the Roufusport family and martial arts world was stunned by the heartbreaking news that Duke Roufus, world-renowned top MMA coach, founder and namesake of Roufusport MMA Academy, passed away peacefully in his sleep,” Joffe wrote on Facebook. “Duke was more than a celebrated trainer and champion kickboxer -- he was a mentor, innovator, father and friend whose influence transformed the landscape of mixed martial arts.”
I worked with Duke for a time circa 2014 when I was a ringside reporter for Glory while he was their color commentator. He was warm, generous with his spirit and time and always - and I do mean ALWAYS - talked about his wife, kids and family. He loved coaching, had an obvious knack for it and had an incredibly distinguished career as a result.
But it wasn’t without some controversy.
Roufusport went through a controversy about 11 years ago. Some well known former fighters at Roufusport accused Duke of running an operation that was abusive after an amateur kickboxer at his gym died from complications related to the bout and weight cutting. As I explain in the video, I don’t bring this up to besmirch him. Quite the opposite, actually. He was changing as a person and coach before the controversy hit, but the entire episode seemed to fundamentally change him and for the better. The Duke I knew was tough, but humane and wanted to do right by his students, gym and martial arts. To me, he seemed fundamentally decent. The lesson his life is not just his achievements as a coach, but the eventual humility he embraced in trying to better himself.
Rest in peace, Duke.
