Jeffrey Ryan "Duke" Roufus (February 19, 1970 – October 17, 2025) was an American kickboxer and head coach of Roufusport based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. He was a well-known striking coach in North America.
Career
Duke Roufus started training in martial arts at an early age. He was the younger brother of kickboxer Rick "The Jet" Roufus.
His professional kickboxing career saw him collect a number of titles. In 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 defeated Australia's WKA World Champion Grant Barker. Roufus took 39 seconds to knock out the Australian in the opening round of the scheduled 5 round Muay Thai bout. He opened Milwaukee Kickboxing & Fitness Club in June 1997.
Roufus voluntarily vacated his Super Heavyweight I.K.F. Title to move down to the Heavyweight Muay Thai Division, and soon after retired. 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 came 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 became a trainer, working with many mixed martial artists including former UFC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis, Alan Belcher, Pat Barry, Rose Namajunas, Chico Camus, Erik Koch, Ben Rothwell, Matt Mitrione, former U.S. Olympian and former Bellator World Champion Ben Askren and former UFC Welterweight Champion Tyron Woodley. 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 operated Roufusport Martial Arts Academy in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Roufus 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 operated NAFC MMA & Kickboxing, which served as a launching pad for many current and former stars of MMA. Following Roufus's sudden passing, it was announced by Joffe that the promotion would be coming to a close and cancel all upcoming events, making its final one a Summer Slam that occurred on September 6, 2025.
Personal life and death
On October 17, 2025, Roufus's business partner, Scott Joffe, announced via a Facebook post that Roufus had died in his sleep earlier that day. He was 55.
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)
Kickboxing record (incomplete)
| 36 wins (26 KO's), 8 losses, 1 draw | ||||||||
| Date | Result | Opponent | Event | Location | Method | Round | Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 29, 2008 | Win | Lawson Baker | Gladiators Fighting's 50th -"Knockout Kings" | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | ||
| May 25, 2007 | Win | Eduardo Maiorino | Colosseum 5 | Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada | TKO (Leg Kicks) | 2 | 0:56 | |
| June 3, 2005 | Win | Sinisa Andrijasevic | Heavyweight Gladiators | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | Decision (Unanimous) | 5 | 3:00 | |
| August 17, 2002 | Loss | Marvin Eastman | K-1 World Grand Prix 2002 in Las Vegas | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | KO (knees to the body) | 3 | 0:19 | |
| September 29, 2001 | Win | Pedro Fernandez | Heavyweight Gladiators | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | TKO (Corner Stoppage) | 4 | ||
| August 11, 2001 | Loss | Stefan Leko | K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 in Las Vegas | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | TKO | 2 | 2:34 | |
| May 5, 2001 | Loss | Michael McDonald | K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | Decision (Unanimous) | 3 | 3:00 | |
| May 5, 2001 | Win | Tomasz Kucharzewski | K-1 World Grand Prix 2001 Preliminary USA | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | TKO (2 knockdowns) | 1 | 2:26 | |
| October 23, 1999 | Win | Dewey Cooper | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | Decision (unanimous) | 5 | 3:00 | ||
| March 19, 1999 | Win | Grant Barker | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | KO (High Kick) | 1 | 0:39 | Defended IKF Super Heavyweight World title. | |
| December 4, 1998 | Win | Hiriwa TeRangi | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | Decision (Unanimous) | Won IKF Super Heavyweight World title. | |||
| June 25, 1997 | Win | Patrick Smith | Ledyard, Connecticut, United States | TKO (Leg Kick) | 2 | Defended KICK Super Heavyweight World title. | ||
| March 10, 1996 | Loss | Mike Bernardo | K-1 Grand Prix '96 Opening Battle | Yokohama, Japan | TKO | 2 | 1:37 | |
| March 25, 1995 | Win | Stan Longinidis | World Cup of Martial Arts | Ledyard, Connecticut, United States | KO (Overhand Right Straight) | 1 | 0:41 | Won WKA, ISKA and WAKO World Super Heavyweight titles |
| October 2, 1994 | Loss | Andy Hug | 1994 Seidokaikan Karate World Cup | KO (Kick to the Body) | 3 | 2:17 | ||
| September 18, 1994 | Win | Takeshi Tanaka | K-1 Revenge | Yokohama, Japan | KO (Right Punch) | 2 | 0:05 | |
| June 3, 1993 | Win | Zinnie Reynolds | Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States | Won WKA North American Championship | ||||
| Legend: Win Loss Draw/no contest | ||||||||
