UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, one of the most notable members of Milwaukee's Roufusport fight camp, is defending team founder Jeffrey "Duke" Roufus in the aftermath of the death of one his fellow gym goers.
Ever since the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an article about the death of Dennis Munson, Jr., a Roufusport amateur kickboxer, in March, former Roufusport team members have lashed out against the coaching methods of the gym, per Bloody Elbow.
On Wednesday, "Showtime" did an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saying that he considers Roufus a father figure and that Munson's death should not be blamed on him (transcription per MMA Fighting).
It just upsets me that people are taking to the blogs and their websites to directly attack the coaching as being the factor in what happened. There's a lot of things that made that outcome. It wasn't one person's fault. It wasn't his[?] fault, it wasn't the referee's fault. It was a combination of a lot of things that led for this to happen ... The thing that gets to me is that they're attacking guys that I look at as fatherly figures. My family, to me. This is a family here ... For every bad story there's 100 people training in the gym that love the culture and love what's going on here.
Pettis, 27, has trained at Roufusport since he was 18 years old and is arguably their most successful fighter with a 17-2 overall record and a UFC title to his credit.
The innovative striker, with an underrated submission game off his back, is 4-1 since coming over to the UFC from the WEC, getting upset in his company debut against Clay Guida in June 2011.
Since then, he has scored four straight victories over lightweight notables Joe Lauzon, Donald Cerrone and Benson Henderson - who he captured the UFC title from at UFC 164 last August.
Pettis has been absent from the Octagon since then, as injuries and a head coaching gig on season 20 of The Ultimate Fighter have left him unable to compete.
He will make his long-awaited return to fighting at UFC 181 on December 6, where he squares off with former Strikeforce 155-pound champ Gilbert Melendez - who is coming back from a 15-month layoff of his own.
John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.
