Rick “The Jet” Roufus Loses His MMA Debut

Former Milwaukee resident, Rick “The Jet” Roufus lost his MMA debut last night to Maurice Smith. The fight was shown live on HDNet Fights and was part of a Strikeforce card entitled Strikeforce at the Dome, which took place in the Tacoma Dome.

Fighting in front of his hometown crowd, it took less than two minutes for the former UFC Heavyweight Champion to submit Roufus with a Kimura. Here is the play-by-play accrording to Sherdog:

”Roufus gave up a takedown in the opening minute. Smith went to half-guard and mount, where he looked for a Kimura. Roufus fought off the technique for several seconds, but tapped at 1:53 of the first when his arm was semi-straightened.”

In interviews leading up to the fight, Roufus stated that he had traveled to Greg Jackson’s camp to train with MMA fighter and wrestler, Mike Van Arsdale for the bout and had worked his Jiu-Jitsu extensively under his instructor Heath Wiggington. Undoubtedly, the Van Arsdale training was to learn takedown defense as Roufus stated he belived Smith would be looking to take the fight to the ground.

With the win, Maurice Smith is able to avenge a 2003 kickboxing loss he suffered to Roufus. It is unclear what the future holds for Rick Roufus in MMA since he is relatively inexperienced in MMA fighting and is very old to begin learning the many skillsets necessary to compete at such a high level including wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.