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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief
A lengthy, heartbreaking, and infuriating feature in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel this weekend on the death of Roufusport kickboxer Dennis Munson has brought a number of stories and backlash against the gym from former members throughout the past 24 hours, with Duke Roufus responding on Monday evening.
The story detailed a number of seriously egregious errors made during the Roufus-run kickboxing event on March 28, from a questionable ringside physician being extremely negligent during the fight to the failure by the referee or Munson's cornerman - Roufusport striking coach Scott Cushman - to recognize or seemingly care about the state Munson was in. Ultimately, he nearly collapsed prior to the third round, only for Cushman to stop him from falling, then send him out for two more minutes of damage.
He completely collapsed after the bout, and there were even more issues from there to the time he was pronounced dead, all detailed in the full feature piece from the Journal-Sentinel. But that feature was just the beginning of what was to come.
Current Ultimate Fighter competitor Rose Namajunas, a former member of Team Roufusport with her fiance, former UFC heavyweight Pat Barry, spoke out on negative experiences with the team, which led to other former members of the gym sending her messages with similar stories. Former Roufusport coach and UFC fighter Eric "Red" Schafer then dropped a further bomb with a personal evisceration of Roufus himself.
A lot of the negative stories against the camp where directed at the culture of the team, suggesting some bullying, intimidation, and example-making from coaches - Cushman specifically in many cases - as a normal part of the way things worked within the fight team.
Here's some of what's been said via social media and The Underground Forum, with an embedded video interview Namajunas did with Karyn Bryant at MMA Heat as well:
@PedroTemblador the head people in charge and a few others mainly duke and scott cushman I've had bad experiences with.
" Duke Roufus is a bully, a liar, and one of the worst people I have ever met. I have never been in a more toxic environment than when I was the head grappling coach and fighter at the gym. I saw teammate after teammate getting treated like shit. 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. They can tell their tales if they want.
When I started there I was new to the UFC, and it was purely a kickboxing gym. I was looking to round out my game. I soon joined as the head grappling coach and we started the MMA team. You could say that I was 2nd in command at the time. I was there when Pettis walked in the door, and when Pat Barry moved to Milwaukee to switch to MMA. I have met some of my best friends there and the family was very strong, despite the captain of the ship being horrible. After seeing countless members of my "family" get screwed over, I finally called it quits after he finally betrayed me directly after being there for over 3 years. Sometimes I wish I had the strength to stand up to him at the time, but it almost feels like I was one of the kids in a family of abuse. I would rather run away than stand up to my violent dad.
I left without telling anyone my plans, but I started my own gym a few months later. I never recruited anyone to follow me, but I just wanted out of the negativity. Many of the guys followed me when they found out or left eventually to other places after they got screwed. I don't claim to be a great fighter or anything, and don't care if I ever am as famous as him or his guys... but I am much more happy. Maybe I am just a pussy or something, like I am sure he will claim anyone who says anything about him, but I could care less. I was never a world champion and had my weaknesses in the cage, but I dare you to ever say I quit in the gym no matter who I was sparring. It was not the "hard" training that was bad, it was something much worse. Not every fighter was treated horribly, but I am sure that every fighter and coach from 2007 to 2010 has been screwed over at least once, whether they will admit it or not.
I am happy with my young and happy gym. I have blocked him from my life. I was offered a fight on his card and told my manager that "I personally would not ever fight for him", so a when a few of my young fighters were scheduled to fight on his show (which I did not like, but he is the big local promoter), he decided to cancel their fights 2 weeks before the event. He wrote me a letter (which I kept) saying they were not welcome, because I did not respect him. I said that I actually understand that, but I wish he wouldn't have scheduled them in the first place and screwed them over. A year later the matchmaker came out and asked for forgiveness and said that we can at least have a business relationship. I said I didn't trust Duke, but the other coaches wanted our guys on the card, I reluctantly agreed. Once again, he cancelled our fights a few weeks before to spite me. Oh well...
The sad thing is that this poor kid had to die before we started hearing any of these stories. What happened to this poor kid is a separate issue in my opinion..."
Namajunas would admit that she returned to the gym earlier this year prior to TUF to size up the coaching in case they picked her on TUF with Anthony Pettis set for the show, and that she left of her own volition once again. There were a couple of accusations that she herself was kicked out for similar behavior to what was being decried, which she addressed on Twitter tonight:
Roufus has since addressed several of the issues raised - from his status as promoter and regulator of the event at which Munson died, to the criticisms levied by former members - in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. Roufus believes the experiences some have been relaying may be grounded in reality, but that the team and their approach has significantly changed since the time these stories would have happened. Some excerpts:
Roufus on Rose and Pat Barry:
"You know, when I see Rose and Pat Barry, they don't seem disgruntled. 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."
Roufus on the "chaotic time" with the team in the past:
"I think they left in 2010. 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."
Roufus on regulating their own kickboxing event and Munson's death:
"No one was interested in regulating kickboxing [with the Wisconsin commission]. We had the opportunity to regulate it, and they chose not to. A lot of people don't realize that."
Former UFC fighter and Roufusport member Danny Downes, who contributes at MMAJunkie, lent some comments on the situation as well:
"Duke's the kind of guy where, if you did a sh**** job, he'll tell you that you did a sh**** job... We hear a lot about positive reinforcement, but not usually the converse. 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."
The story continues to develop, with fighters and others who have trained in the gym lending comments both positive and negative regarding their experiences.
Penick's Analysis: While Roufus defends the use of the doctor in question, and the processes they've had in place, it's just not acceptable. The harrowing video of the fight broken down by the Journal-Sentinel story showcases the doctor fixated on his phone rather than the fight in the cage, Cushman holding Munson up and sending him out for the third when he never should have been out there, and then after the fight, Cushman slapping Munson to try to get him responsive before he collapsed. There's a real "old school" training feel to some of the stories presented, and with Cushman that seems like it's been an ongoing thing with the team. Now, if things have changed from some of the more egregious tales told, that's a positive, but this death happened in March. I sincerely hope there's been a change to the approach by some of the coaches and in their training philosophy if even a fraction of the stories told are true. As it stands, it's personal anecdotes from some, and bad experiences perhaps accentuated in light of this story, with some coming to the defense of the gym. Ultimately, there's good and bad to every gym, and it seems there's been more bad than realized with this team in the past. It's not going to be the experience for everyone, but it's been the experience for enough that it's disconcerting, and the way things were handled with Munson understandably have emotions at a high. What happened was wrong, and never should have gotten to that point; Cushman, the referee Al Wichgers, the ringside physician, and more all share some culpability in that, and at the very least, hopefully these other stories coming to light either leads to change within the gym or continues it further if it's already been happening. The health and safety of all competitors should be the most important thing, especially for those under their care on cards they themselves are regulating.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
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