{"id":222270,"date":"2025-10-18T08:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-10-18T08:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/222270\/"},"modified":"2025-10-18T08:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-10-18T08:23:07","slug":"anthony-pettis-mourns-death-of-legendary-ufc-coach-duke-roufus-youve-taught-me-so-much","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/222270\/","title":{"rendered":"Anthony Pettis mourns death of legendary UFC coach Duke Roufus: \u2018You\u2019ve taught me so much\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former professional kickboxer and top MMA coach, Duke Roufus, has passed away at just 55 years old. His business partner, Scott Joffe, revealed his passing on Facebook<\/a> on Friday and wrote that Roufus passed away peacefully in his sleep a day earlier. Currently, no specific cause of death has been reported.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday, 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,\u201d Joffe wrote on Facebook (H\/T MMA Fighting)<\/a>. \u201cDuke was more than a celebrated trainer and champion kickboxer\u2014he was a mentor, innovator, father and friend whose influence transformed the landscape of mixed martial arts. His knowledge, charisma, and passion inspired countless fighters to reach heights they never imagined possible. From world champions to first-day students, everyone who crossed his path felt his genuine care and unwavering belief in their potential. His loss leaves an irreplaceable void in the sport and in the hearts of all who knew him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThough we grieve deeply, Roufusport MMA Academy will continue forward, driven by Duke\u2019s enduring philosophy and commitment to excellence. The culture he built\u2014rooted in respect, hard work, and family\u2014will live on through the fighters, coaches, and students who proudly carry his torch. His impact will echo in every strike, every lesson, and every victory that bears the Roufusport name.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roufus was a very accomplished kickboxer in the \u201890s, winning multiple titles and building up a professional record of 36-8-1. For modern fight fans, however, he\u2019s perhaps best known for his work in coaching UFC and MMA fighters to greatness. Head coach of the Roufusport Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Roufus is a has been in the corner of top fighters like Tyron Woodley, Paul Felder, and Ben Askren.<\/p>\n

Roufus might well be best known for his relationship with Anthony and Sergio Pettis, two athletes Roufus coached from very young in their lives all the way up to stardom and championships. In fact, Roufus was in Sergio Pettis\u2019 corner just a couple weeks ago when he landed that outrageous spinning elbow<\/a> to stop Magomed Magomedov in PFL.<\/p>\n

Anthony Pettis mourned his coach\u2019s passing in a heartfelt social media past, writing, \u201cWhen my dad was killed you took me in and became my father \u2026 Together we did the impossible and made it to the top! I will always make you proud, you\u2019ve taught me so much. I will make sure your legacy continues on. #RIP<\/a> Coach\u201d<\/p>\n

We here at MMAmania.com<\/a> send our sincerest condolences to his family and friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former professional kickboxer and top MMA coach, Duke Roufus, has passed away at just 55 years old. His…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":222271,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,40762,785,85,1396],"class_list":{"0":"post-222270","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-latest-ufc-mma-news","12":"tag-mma","13":"tag-sports","14":"tag-ufc-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=222270"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/222270\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/222271"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=222270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=222270"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=222270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}