In a way i do feel bad for them and understand why likes of Rhodes and Koch are going to adamantly defend the like of Duke and Cushman. Im sure there are plenty of teams out there that are even worse and more negligent and incompetent than them. Im sure some of the old school vale tudo type brazilian coaches are brutal
Pat Barry...
@mmamarine0311 @TeamRocBiggie @rosenamajunas @KarynBryant @MMAHEAT
IF YOU ONLY KNEW HOW OFTEN WE WERE ALL TOLD TO KICK YOUR ASS
Who is that directed towards? Mitrione?Originally Posted by Vaughany
Pat Barry...
@mmamarine0311 @TeamRocBiggie @rosenamajunas @KarynBryant @MMAHEAT
IF YOU ONLY KNEW HOW OFTEN WE WERE ALL TOLD TO KICK YOUR ASS
To Mike Rhodes
@TeamRocBiggie @rosenamajunas @KarynBryant @MMAHEAT
YOU STILL DONT KNOW YOURE ROLL AT THE GYM AND THATS OK
ITS HARD TO SEE, I KNOW
@TeamRocBiggie @rosenamajunas @KarynBryant @MMAHEAT @mmamarine0311
ASK ANYBODY THERE IF THEY WERE EVER TOLD TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF U
John Kavanagh...
@damohicks disturbing
Pat "HD" Barry - Official Fan Page
1 hr ·
I only chimed in to support my friends Rose and Pat who where/are being called rats and liars about the training situations at the gym... I left there 4 years ago, and maybe it has changed from the admitted "chaotic" days when I was there.
Maybe when I saw Matt Mitrione get green lighted to beat Ben Rothwell out of the gym, things have not happened like that again. Why would we want 3 quality heavyweights in the gym when 2 was enough? Makes no sense to me, but I am sure it did somehow. They all seemed to be good guys, but maybe
Maybe some of the claims are exaggerated like Danny Boy Downes told MMAJunkie, but they did not seem exaggerated when he ranted to me for over 10 minutes at a UFC event about how much he hated Duke and I even heard my favorite quote about how Danny can't wait until everyone finds out that the "emperor has no clothes". Only a man of Danny's intelligence would use a Hans Christian Andersen reference to insult Duke.
Maybe the coaches like Ryan, Chris, Tony, Aaron, Kyle, and others who were treated like shit and/or lied to all left before it was cleaned up. Maybe the bullying and hazing of fighters and just naive students has ended.
Maybe I should not have left after Anthony Pettis pulled up to me and wrestling coach Chris Senner who were doing sprints outside the gym during a noon session and told me that Duke told him that he didn't think he needed me to help corner Pettis against Shane Roller, but Anthony argued to get me back in the corner, because he wanted my help to beat the grappler. Anthony asked if I could help get the training camp going, since the gym was so emotionally defeated at the time and no one was training. Even though I decided that this would be my last camp at Roufusport at that very moment, I still studied Roller, got the fighters and wrestlers to help out, and gave it my all to help him win.
Maybe when I convinced a bunch of wrestler kids to help out Anthony fight Roller and Chico fight Chase Beebe (fight fell through) because we needed help working their takedown defense, maybe I should not have gotten upset when Duke walked in halfway through practice and yelled at the guys to start beating these guys up, even though we promised that we would take it easy on them because they were not fighters, and they were going out of their way to help out. I know that Chico apologized to the wrestler that he had to start beating him up to avoid the wrath of Duke, but maybe that has all changed...
The truth is that I was truly hurt when I was in the ring after the Roller fight was ended by a triangle choke, and Duke told Anthony to thank Pat (who has was injured for the entire camp), Belcher, who lives in Mississippi and wasn't there for the camp, and Ben Askren who was there for 2 days for the camp, but not me. It was okay, because I was already checked out, but I would have at least liked a thank you. When I left, Pettis asked why I was leaving when he had finally earned the title shot, and I just replied sadly that "I have to". He nodded and knew I was emotionally done.
Maybe those "chaotic" days are over... I hope so. I have blocked Duke and the gym from my life as much as possible. I still get messages from people saying that it has not changed, but maybe it has. Maybe it wasn't Rick Glenn who came to my gym last winter saying that he was sick of the bullying of the fighters there. Maybe it wasn't Chico who was looking for help in his last 3 UFC fights, because he had a falling out with Duke... I don't know most of the newer guys, but they all seem nice to me. I wish them the best. One of HIS associates said it best today to me "we deal with Duke because we need to, does anyone really like him?"
I did not see the Dennis Munson Jr fight live... I am banned from his shows for "not respecting him". I heard plenty of horrible stories about the fight. I only saw the fight on Sunday morning, like everyone else, and I was horrified. I didn't think it was going to be as cut and dry as it was, but I hope justice will be served.
I would never use this kid's death as a way to "stick it to Duke". Anything I said was purely in defense of Pat, Rose, and the countless testimonials that I have been seeing from other former members about the attitude at the gym. They are not rats or liars, just people who have been hurt. With that all said... I am done with this garbage. May this negative chapter in my life be finally over. It kinda feels good to get some of this stuff off my chest. Hopefully I never see or hear about Duke again.
PS- If I disappear mysteriously, then you all know where to look
- Red Schafer
alanbelcherufcDuke is a great coach and has only had best intentions for the team and students over the years.
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Duke Roufus
A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel story about the death of Roufusport amateur kickboxer Dennis Munson Jr. set off a firestorm of criticism aimed at head coach Duke Roufus this weekend, as former fighters such as UFC women’s strawweight Rose Namajunas and former UFC fighter Eric Schafer described a toxic atmosphere of abuse, both verbal and physical, at the Milwaukee gym that serves as the home to top fighters such as UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, among others.
Now Roufus is speaking out, telling MMAjunkie that he was surprised at the allegations that Namajunas, Schafer and others posted on social media and on The Underground Sunday night, in part because such accusations are rarely leveled at him in person.
“You know, when I see Rose and (former UFC fighter) Pat Barry, they don’t seem disgruntled,” Roufus said. “They’re very nice to me. Pat asked me advice at the last Glory (kickboxing) event. Rose came and trained at our gym in spring. Eric Schafer, I know we’ve had some issues. I’ve tried to reach out ever since he left Roufusport, and he didn’t want to ever sit down and chat with me. It’s tough.”
Schafer, who did not respond to requests to comment for this story, called Roufus a “bully, a liar and one of the worst people I have ever met” in a UG post supporting Namajunas’ allegations, likening Roufus to an abusive father whom his students couldn’t bring themselves to stand up to.
“I have never been in a more toxic environment than when I was the head grappling coach and fighter at the gym,” Schafer wrote. “I saw teammate after teammate getting treated like sh-t. Guys being told to beat up lower level guys that were just trying to help out, UFC fighters being told to beat up other UFC level fighters so they would not come back, verbal abuse, violence, guys getting lied to about fights, etc. I have messages and conversations with almost everyone of his fighters from my days there; from his UFC stars to his coaching staff about how much they were mistreated. I will not out them, but they know the truth.”
For his part, Roufus allowed that many of the fighters now speaking out were members of the team during a “chaotic time” for Roufusport. But things have changed considerably in the gym since then, he said. Hard sparring sessions may have been the norm then, Roufus claimed, but as the sport has evolved, so have his training methods.
“I think they left in 2010,” Roufus said. “It’s 2014. If you look at the results of what the kids are doing right now, and just the evolution of MMA, things have changed. Back then, I don’t think we embraced strength and conditioning as much. We were trying to spar ourselves into shape. My philosophy now, four short years later, is completely opposite of that.”
Pat Barry
He also countered that some of those fighters claiming to have witnessed bullying in the gym were perpetrators of it, saying, “I’ve personally seen Pat Barry low kick and liver shot Sergio Pettis as hard as he can, and I don’t believe in that style of training.”
Barry also did not return repeated requests for comment, but according to other former team members, the physical toll of the training was only part of the problem. Several fighters who spoke to MMAjunkie on the condition of anonymity said that the main issue was verbal and psychological abuse in the gym. Fighters described seeing others berated for small mistakes during practice sessions, or verbally dressed down after losing fights.
According to MMAjunkie contributor and former Roufusport fighter Danny Downes, some of those claims are exaggerated, and some might be the result of fighters having a poor reaction to the gruff communication style employed by Roufus and other coaches, such as Scott Cushman.
Downes recalled his first fight in the WEC, which he lost via submission at the hand of Chris Horodecki after taking the bout on short notice. Afterward, he said, Roufus had some unkind words about his wrestling ability, and that stung.
“But he was right; I did need to work on my wrestling,” Downes said. “Duke’s the kind of guy where, if you did a sh-tty job, he’ll tell you that you did a sh-tty job.”
According to Downes, that criticism may have seemed out of line to some fighters, but a certain amount of unpleasant feedback may be necessary in a rough sport like MMA, even if it might have gone too far at Roufusport.
“We hear a lot about positive reinforcement, but not usually the converse,” Downes said. “Fighting is about negative reinforcement. Not good at blocking a cross? Well, you just got punched in the face. Not doing so well at sparring? Then you hear about it. The trick is to find the balance, and oftentimes that balance was not met.”
Other fighters said it went beyond just harsh criticism, with certain members being singled out again and again, which they said led to an atmosphere of fear and overwhelming negativity.
Roufus didn’t deny that he could be hard on fighters on times, but he challenged the assertion that he did it out of meanness or the desire to abuse anyone.
“It’s because, the nature of this business, if you go out there and you don’t perform well, you get cut,” Roufus said. “And who likes seeing their friends get fired? It’s hard to see that, to see them not do well at their job.”
Rose Namajunas
But the allegations from Schafer, Namajunas and others describe something that goes beyond harsh criticism. In messages passed along on social media by Namajunas, people who claimed to have been members at Roufusport describe incidents that seem more like assault than training, from the targeting of certain team members to the daily humiliation of others.
Roufus denied those claims and said he hadn’t held anyone back from leaving the team and pursuing their goals
A marine's story animated. Devastating. That channel is incredible and I highly recommend all of you check it out.
very good.
check out this movie, very powerful https://twitter.com/kajakimovie
MD gave Vaughany 2 Betpoint(s) for this post.
I hadn't heard of that, I'll check it out. Cheers V.
I only heard about it at the weekend cos there are posters advertising it all over in the London Underground.
One of the main actors played John Snow's Night Watch homie Grenn in Game of Thrones!
Yeah, I read that a little while ago. Few problems with Roufus's argument:
1) Talking about how nice of a guy you are does not invalidate any of the Hitleresque stories about you.
2) The problems here have nothing to do with large-scale coaching issues (such as "sparring less often"), and everything to do with the personal side of coaching (such as "sparring less murderously.")
3) Scott Cushman is still coaching at his gym. This means that Duke does not deem his actions serious enough to warrant his dismissal (though Duke did deem them serious enough to warrant covering them up.)
He is clearly a bully, as far as I'm concerned.
omalley21 gave MD 10 Betpoint(s) for this post.
I agree. i read in another article Duke said Pat used to bully Sergio Pettis in training. first of all why is a HW sparring with such a lower weight class? and as a coach he knew this was happening and allowed this?
Just backs up Pat's earlier statement that he was told to spar with lower weight classe's and told to keep hitting when he stopped because he was hurting them.
Caught in a web of lies.
