Duke Roufus details split with UFC bantamweight Chico Camus
When UFC bantamweight Chico Camus stepped in the cage at UFC on FOX 10 in Chicago this past Saturday night, he did so without his friends at Milwaukee’s Roufusport gym behind him.
That’s because, as Camus (14-4 MMA, 3-1 UFC) told reporters following his unanimous win over Yaotzin Meza, he split with the team weeks earlier, forcing him to cobble together a training camp from multiple sources.
“We kind of had a falling out,†said Camus, who declined to go into detail over the source of the conflict, except to say that it was “a misunderstanding.â€
But according to Roufusport head coach Duke Roufus, it wasn’t one that developed overnight, nor is it one that’s likely to be forgotten any time soon.
“Honestly, I’m so happy he did well [at UFC on FOX 10],†Roufus told MMAjunkie. “I like Chico personally. It’s just a matter of code of conduct and keeping a training schedule at our academy. We have a pretty strict level of training at our academy. By default, with him being in the UFC, he’s a leader whether he wants to be or not for all the young athletes on the team. Everybody on the team wants to be where he’s at, and there’s a certain level of training that I expect from people. It’s nothing personal.â€
According to Roufus, Camus simply wasn’t living up to those expectations, and it was a persistent problem that he’d tried to address several times with the fighter.
“I’ve been trying for a while,†Roufus said. “You try every route. You’re the bad guy, the good guy, the best friend. … I think the world of Chico. He’s a great kid. But you can only ask someone and beg them so many times. This is not the first time. It’s been many times. I know people will say, ‘The guy’s winning fights,’ but part of the special relationship the athletes have at our academy is because we are a true team. Everyone is helping everyone else win fights. We don’t have guys who just drop in and train when they have a fight.â€
Camus seemed to feel the affects of the exit in his preparation for the bout with Meza. He told reporters that he got his work in at several different gyms, but in the end it was still “the least sparring I’ve ever done and the least jiu-jitsu I’ve ever done for a fight,†he said.
Camus also wasn’t afraid to admit that he missed his former teammates, and seemed open to the possibility of an eventual reconciliation.
“I think there’s always a chance,†he said. “I don’t hate anybody or hold grudges toward anybody. Just a misunderstanding. He felt a certain way, and I felt a certain way. It was what it was. I wish them nothing but the best. I came out this card and I won, so I think that says a lot about me.â€
On that score, Roufus doesn’t disagree. In fact, he said, that’s one of the things that was so frustrating about the split. Clearly, Camus is a fighter with real potential.
“He’s doing well,†Roufus said. “But how well could he do if he committed as much as some of the other athletes? He has a lot of potential, is the scary thing about it. He could be something special if he had the commitment level of some of the other athletes I work with.â€
If you’re an optimist at heart, one way to look at it is to consider the possibility that the split could be just the wake-up call that Camus needs – assuming he needs one at all. If all other methods of getting through to him failed, perhaps something more dramatic was necessary.
Camus seemed open to mending fences, noting that while his career will roll on either way, “Maybe I’ll find my way back home.â€
Then again, as Roufus pointed out, “If you’re in the UFC and you’re not listening to me, why would you start listening to me now?â€
