Roufus vs Le Banner Was Real Life Mortal Kombat - K1 Bout 4 Explained

Rick Roufus was an American style kickboxer with championship belts from several organizations. After losing a fight to a much smaller Tai fighter years earlier due to his unfamiliarity with leg kicks, Roufus had incorporated Muay Thai techniques into his boxing heavy style with some incredible results.
Jerome LeBanner had been in K1 for 2 years, and had already defeated such greats as Mike Bernardo and Ernesto Hoost. Although he had a Kyokushin Karate background, he was inspired by Bruce Lee’s JKD to fight with his dominate hand forward, in southpaw. This resulted in a straight, powerful jab that helped him set up his tremendous power shots.
It was anyone's guess how these two unique styles would play out when pitted against each other.
Aggressive Defense: www.modernmartialartist.com/do...
Footwork Wins Fights: www.modernmartialartist.com/do...
Principles of Power: www.modernmartialartist.com/do...
Mortal Weapons The Fight Comic: www.amazon.com/Mortal-Weapons...

[@TheModernMartialArtist]

Aggressive Defense: www.modernmartialartist.com/dowloads/head-movement-blocks-counters/ Footwork Wins Fights: www.modernmartialartist.com/downloads/footwork-wins-fights/ Principles of Power: www.modernmartialartist.com/downloads/power-of-the-pros/ Mortal Weapons the Fight Comic: www.amazon.com/Mortal-Weapons-David-Christian-ebook/dp/B07T4X4W1K/

[@hia5235]

MJF theme. nice choice.

[@wallywal836]

Roufus=overrated

[@thecheetah2183]

O

[@wushu96]

Please, tell me what is the name of the sound that sounds in the video?. Thank you.

[@antlerr]

pancreas the real first ill be sure to let bas rutten know you ignore his sport and feats.......

[@clos6613]

Gotta give credit to an older and smaller Roufus for putting up a great fight against one of the all time greats and a bigger man in LeBanner. These are 2 legends who deserve nothing but respect for pushing this sport into new heights 👏

[@honigdachs.]

Roufus did great in this fight. Le Banner is one of the greats, a massive towering guy and looks significantly heavier in this bout, yet Rick really made him work and at times even outclassed him.

[@luciferhuey6285]

Look at those spinning back hands!!!

[@jhonnycaicedo5647]

he outclassed him the whole fight however LeBanner simply has no quit in him and that is why he pulled it off

[@callumbrown5490]

If rick wasn't American and was Dutch he would have developed that dutch kickboxing style instead as a younger guy he didn't train leg kicks.. his legs weren't conditioned he hadn't spent years like the thai boxers or dutch hardening the shins from when they were young he was doing the above the waste pants on American kickboxing the little thai boxer showed him how important leg kicks are but if your fighting against guys that have trained leg kicks since they were young boys.. you have no chance

[@jean-luchochart6960]

Magnifique rencontre! Roufus est un formidable guerrier et un extraordinaire Le Banner est allé au bout de son art pour gagner ce combat!

[@ericnguyenvan7]

Lebaner et une vraie légende maintenant.Il mérite sa retraite bien gagner.Bravo Geronimo tu resteras l'un des plus grands du K1.👍👍👍

[@vaettra1589]

K-1 had no weight classes, so LeBanner having +15kg on Roufus was an important factor.

[@avc5131]

No weight classes ? Are you kiddin ?

[@phank.s.4052]

There were MAX (72kg) and Heavyweight.

[@exen3980]

@@avc5131 Its mostly happening in the Heavyweight division,70kg could be considered as a heavyweight ,even tho his opponent can be more than 90kg

[@Bagheera_88]

you're right but JBL got better skills as well

[@aluisiofsjr]

@@Bagheera_88 , Roufus was more technical, Le Banner was just spamming leg kicks and eating punches like nothing. What made him the winner was being way heavier, younger (Roufus was old), and a better strategy on round 3.

[@dylanauguste9312]

As a French kick boxer myself for 20 years now, I’m so glad to see Lebanner on your channel, which is by the way the best on KZbin regarding martial arts. I had the great honour to meet and train with Jerome, he’s a beast and the nicest guy in the world

[@ccrider3435]

+1 Top Sportsman!

[@willandrews9741]

That makes me happy to hear. Dudes a freak of a human.

[@dylanauguste9312]

best channel on KZbin regarding martial arts. Sorry if my English is not perfect and you didn’t get what I was trying to say. I write a nice comment about a fighter and about the channel, and you have to criticize. You people on internet never disappoint in « confurming » your own stereotypes. Calm down with the racism part thought mate 😉

[@dylanauguste9312]

@@1RikAtiC1 And I accept your apology, no problem mate

[@flowrepins6663]

@Alex Green why would.it be ilegal in first place? ufc and pride had been around for decades

[@alexceltic755502]

Lebanner had some Full Contact and Boxing background and at this time he was training in muay thai with the famous french trainer Andre Zeitoun, who was in his corner and that you can see at 9:53 on the right of the screen.

[@ccrider3435]

LOVE the details!

[@MrQba]

ye, wtf hes talking about JKD xD

[@Motorsportsinjapan]

He’d also been training with Evander Holyfield

[@Biggelz06]

Lebanner started with judo (his father was a boxer and he didn't want his son to fight) but he wanted to fight so he moved to karate but he didn't like it (no enough sparing) then tried Jet kun Do and he finally moved to kickboxing (but he keept the JKD stance) then he did some muay thai to improve his kickboxing

[@joris5116]

Bien vu!

[@ChocolateMilkCultLeader]

Le Banner was a tank when it came to eating all those shots. The weight class difference was a huge factor though

[@RickySpanish12344]

and steroid use.

[@SturdyRoots007]

The main factor.

[@zeroyon4562]

@@RickySpanish12344 Le Banner gets bought up a lot, he was a freak show, but they were probably all on peds. It’s better that they were untested than to have some guys doing whatever to circumvent a testing regime.

[@TheKyleMark]

@@zeroyon4562 Agreed. I think the sport is ideal if everyone is clean, because brains aren’t made to be knocked around by juiced gorillas and not even juicing helps with that. But worse than everyone being on steroids is an honest man taking a beating he shouldn’t have from a dishonest one.

[@houssedecouette4056]

@@RickySpanish12344 every body's on steroids

[@mtmatt6111]

Fantastic breakdown. Some of the best breakdowns on KZbin. Kudos to Roufus who was much smaller than Lebanner and looked old in this fight. Lebanner was just a beast.

[@mastermindmartialarts]

These two were some of my favorites from K1's glory days. Especially Jerome. He WAS my favorite kickboxer at that time.

[@mp89701n]

there's not many scarier looking people than prime jerome lebanner

[@mastermindmartialarts]

@@mp89701n truth

[@gigachad6885]

@@mp89701n even Mike Tyson was scared shitless of him, they had a boxing fight planned, but since LeBanner said he was gonna use kicks anyway, Tyson ran away and said he didn't want to be kicked by this monster

[@ProvencaLeGaulois]

Merci for putting respect on Le Banner's name

[@the_Brumeister]

Hey cool, we have Duke Roufus in my area teaching classes and running a dojo so this is neat to see his older brother in action.

[@yourewelcome9996]

Bro, please keep these old school k one commentaries coming! As an mma fan that started mid 2000s I'd love to keep watching these breakdowns since I've never seen the fights before. You do a great job!

[@TheLochs]

Rick and his brother Duke are from my hometown of Milwaukee WI, I'm proud to have trained there and Rick and Duke were some of my favorite fighters. If Rick had been born a little later and had trained Thai boxing form the start I believe he would have done much better in K-1. However, he did have the flashy style from being a TKD student as a kid and then getting some great hands form traini g western boxing.

[@flowrepins6663]

@Joseph DeLacy he did very well if they were the same weight those punched would have ko le banner. american kickboxing had aweome boxing and kicking combinations.

[@Josh-dr9db]

Can’t really say that after the success of fighters like Wonderboy, McGregor and Machida that used even a longer karate stance

[@guiguijol]

Hi, I'm from Le Havre, where Jérome grew up and still lives right now. (a small village near the Harbor, not exactly here, few kms) I saw this fight live. All respect to Roufus, he was the smaller guy and still managed to make me spill my beer on the carpet.

[@guspetrakis1233]

@TheLochs hello, do they have Greek heritage?

[@chiliman4711]

Anthony pettis coach

[@justinalexander5959]

I love this series so much, really appreciates these legends

[@unchangedimage1603]

I adore your coverage of this tournament, it’s just incredible

[@HH-45]

I like how unbiased you are throughout the video.you being unbiased made that plot twist

[@RelinquishedSoul]

Your fight analysis is always outstanding, my absolute favorite. Well done on this video!

[@davis4685]

Always some insane feats in these K1 videos, great stuff.

[@marcelboogaard3809]

Rufus lost to Changpuek who isn’t just a lighter Thai fighter but a legend who fought many heavyweight fighters.

[@somebodysson227]

@Paul yeah true

[@gatorcroc7212]

@Paul oh yeah its not like the HW guys couldn't punch or kick back...nothing at all like Gracie. Who couldn't go toe to toe standing.

[@derekvandenburg6689]

the Thai fighter cheated. Rufus had him about knocked out and finished in round 1. Between rounds his corner flooded the ring with ice, causing a better than 2 minute delay before round 2 could start. the referee gave them a 1 point deduction, but without the extra time to recover Rufus would have finished him off.

[@Yjastral]

@@derekvandenburg6689 Maybe... Or maybe not.

[@flowrepins6663]

@@derekvandenburg6689 if clinch, elbows and knees were allowed the thailand guy would have defeated roufous really fast..it was all american full contact rules except for the low kicks.

[@TheKlickitat]

Two absolute artists in the ring. Thanks for the analysis, it was supurb.

[@TheKickboxingCommunity]

Just goes to show how good Ernesto Hoost was. He also had these insane weight disadvantages but had insane cardio and insane techniques and simply was able to take care of JLB several times

[@judahsoremy9857]

I've NEVER seen a fighter not only utilize their reach effectively, but maximize their reach with the level of technicality that, Ernest Hoost did.

[@tristan.r.l4753]

You seem to exaggerate a bit if I may, Ernesto was around 240 lb, like a lot of other heavyweights, I mean that's on the light side of the heavyweights but nothing insane. Also Le Banner and him are 3-2. I just point that out because your comment may sound like Ernesto bested him by a big margin by people not knowing the history. Still, Hoost is a legend, and has more titles

[@TheKickboxingCommunity]

@@tristan.r.l4753 kzbin.info/www/bejne/jJSZioKcjdqVqMU Thumbnail litteraly says he is 225 and JLB is 265 This is in his top years too

[@tristan.r.l4753]

@@TheKickboxingCommunity in that particular fight, sure. But what I wanted to point was that, at heavyweight this is not insane difference (even at 225). At this weight class in particular you have to be at the perfect weight for your style, not losing to much power on one side, not losing to much speed on the other side. It's not rare to see heavyweight champions in boxing, MMA, kickboxing etc. Between 225 and 240, in a category where they can be much more, so it does not seem like a real disavantage. I mean it can be, but not necessarily.

[@tristan.r.l4753]

@@TheKickboxingCommunity by the way, sorry if I fail to be subtle in my writing, English is not my first language

[@maxanderson3733]

_Now _*_THIS_*_ is the kinda badass upload I wanna see on a Sunday afternoon!!!_

[@thanosvoutselas8316]

Great fight analysis as always! Your videos are awesome!

[@TheAerozot]

Like all the fights in k1 - the outcome is 50/50. All the fighters were at the top of their game and extremely dangerous. I wish k1 would come back

[@izzdin6228]

What about ONE championship kickboxing? The recent 10th anniversary fight card has a slew of kickboxing future classics.

[@madtrade]

those man were warriors i can't imagine doing multiple fight in the same night specially when the pain start to come after the adrenaline wear down jesus.... how many time you feel nothing after a fight and can't move for shit the next hours with everything beginning to be way more painful when you hit it again

[@Desh681]

Holy shit, this was such a plot twist for me. I’ve been a big fan of The Jet ever since he faced off the Crazy Elephant (same Thai fighter mentioned in the beginning) and broke his jaw with his signature jump cross. So wasn’t expecting him to lose

[@TAROTAI]

really?

[@1RikAtiC1]

why? USA always sucked in K1

[@noncehuntingassociation8744]

So you were a fan of him from the time of a fight that he lost by leg kicks and you were surprised that he lost again by leg kicks. Also a big fan that missed the losses in between these two fights and the five losses after. Ok.

[@SacClass650]

This series is fantastic. Thank you!

[@johnpittsii7524]

Thanks for the breakdown. Much ❤ as always

[@kevinwilliams6889]

I love this channel. Your analysis is far deeper than anyone else's. I love the knowlege you impart to others. Keep up the amazing work. Here's hoping you hit 1 million subs here!!!

[@Lolife86]

Jerome Lebanner is the king without a crown.

[@kiboma4209]

Didn’t he win against a Thai fighter? Well more so rob the thai fighter the win

[@ko2ni]

Epic fight, epic video and commentary. You’ve earned a new subscriber Cheers from France 🇫🇷

[@EresirThe1st]

Roufus did amazingly to come that close to victory against an opponent that much bigger.

[@JCMcGee]

Fantastic breakdown....and really entertaining. Thanks!😀

[@jonathankraemer9703]

This video is so good! Great job 🤘

[@mscir]

GREAT show. Thanks very much. It's so cool watching guys this good adjust their game.

[@G..R.]

This is the first video I've seen of this channel and I'm very impressed by your commentary and insight! I never knew about the front kick being an insult, and I've trained at a Muay Thai gym myself!

[@patrickreynolds5463]

It's the sole of the foot on the face that's the insult...

[@gjokop]

I love that you have multiple highlights in the beginning of this video from Andy Hug

[@nickverbree]

Man, I'm loving this series

[@floupif]

Really good commentarys !! Thank you

[@ryansisco2492]

That was very well narrated. Had me on edge the whole time.

[@mushman2398]

Love the vid thx for a new upload

[@peppa7926]

Modern Martial Artist I love your breakdown style and how you notice multiple tiny details that fighters do that makes them good. I've been searching on youtube and haven't seen many breakdowns of Yodsanklai Fairtex even though he's one of the best kickboxers of all time. It would be really nice if you could do a breakdown on him and I'd really appreciate it.

[@michaelmacy680]

hell yes dude i just started getting into le banner. awesome upload timing

[@robertjackson3819]

Well done. Your commentary was riveting.

[@catyear75]

Two phenomenal athletes and martial artists! Salute !!

[@maverickstclare3756]

So glad to revisit these along with someone who sees the things I don't

[@hypnoticskull6342]

Rufus growing from his leg kick loss is amazing

[@someone_else303]

Semmy Schilt, Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts and Jerome Le Banner heros from the 90's.

[@ThePoisonMist]

Might as well go on break down multiple fights from the K1GP. Love your content

[@matthewmooney4559]

Don't like kickboxing but u make it amazing

[@zachleprieur2871]

Loving these vids!

[@olegyamleq7796]

that super fight challenge sounds INSANEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!! great video!!!!!!!!!!!! Upvoted!!!!!!!!!!

[@ambergaulden1698]

Would you ever do a video on Bill Wallace, Benny the jet or the other Joe Louis? Great videos, love this channel

[@igorsvacic217]

Jerome is one of the golden era legends hands down, but man, Roufus was there too. I see a lot of ppl underrate hm BADLY. Rick as a warrior, I mean, JUST THIS; just the fact that he gave a fight to a fucking Jerome LeBanner is a deed worth of conidering him a great of the sport. Thanks to Cikatić win of the first K1 probably, I found this sport at the very young age and became the fan. PS. If Im not mistaken the last K1 was that one when CroCop won? Yea, I know, it was what it was, a shaddow of real K1 tournaments, I wouldnt even consider that instalkement of the tournament as K1 , but it is what it is, the name was there. If thats right Croats won the first and the last K1 ever And we also had great Mladen Brestovac, a guy that had more lethal high kick than Mirko Filipović, and a guy that fought in kickboxing as a hobby, yet he came to the highest achievemts lol. The WHOLE time he worked full job and trained after the job, he asked a fuucking free day from the boss to go and fight infront of fifty thousands ppl lmao what a fucking legend he was God knows how far he would have gone if he done this professionally. And now we have another guy in Glory, Antonio Plazibat, For a nation of four millons we really had some great fighters, in kickboxing, MMA, boxing and all in between. Croatian power 💪💪💪

[@madperrot]

I love when you cover kickboxing! As soon as I saw this, I made sure to grab a snack, drink etc 🤣

[@doc_sav]

I really like this series. Never been too interested in kickboxing, but this is teaching me a lesson.

[@RealUncleKong]

Yo David ur vids are the greatest hope u doin Carlos Monzon breakdown vid soon

[@Notenoughwin]

Rufus was a natural middle weight, impressive that he could even compete in the K1 GP

[@liquidflow6541]

Very good analysis.. Thx for that

[@devmiles]

What a great fight and technical display of both fighters, amazing how Le Banner adapted during the fight

[@lucidso2758]

you changed the thumbnail so many times 😭 I love it tho

[@DaniG._.German]

When Le Banner gets angry, he become Le Hulk.

[@akesie]

Came for the fight. Stayed for the MJF entrance music. Good work!

[@Erreip54]

Awesome video. Thanks!

[@italianmiltyfriedman6264]

thanks, never seen this Roufus guy before, really cool!

[@ec7125]

American spinning backlist along with ridgehands and step sidekicks are classic ol school kick boxing techniques...that made me smile...le banner was a k1 killer....good memories 👍

[@mrmatt7210]

Both men fought like Champions. Much Respect.

[@cheche7068]

I love these series very well of these legends

[@RoyalMountedAnkleBiters]

The K1 Grand Prix, oh the memories. I remember it having a huge impact not unlike UFC. Nice video

[@ellis7622]

man, le banners got a hell of a chin taking all those shots and then going on to get the win.

[@speedrob]

My thought on the reasoning on why teep to the face is kinda seen as disrespectful... In Thailand the feet are considered the dirtiest part of the body, like pointing with your feet is considered rude. Where the head is considered 'holy' and something like a pat on the head is rude. So imagine the disrespect meant for teeping someones face XD

[@Mibour]

Interesting how le banner went from a muay thai attitude to a more classic kick boxing stance

[@pedrorivera8255]

Much respect to Roufus to hang in there with a much younger and stronger LeBanner👍🏽

[@masterexploder4312]

Awesome breakdown

[@chuksnnene1861]

Roufous put up great fight but It was like a supermiddle weight vs a heavy weight. Both guys are great exponents of combat sport. Thanks for a great video and analysis.

[@lenanardeurdeyoutube]

two legends

[@saifernandez8622]

Awesome fight! American Kickboxing style weakness has always been low kick defense. It relies too much on circular ring movement (western boxing) and flashy kicks that expose the legs.

[@Dead_Goat]

Leg kicking is completely overrated, and leaves you worse off than if you didn't throw the kick 80percent of the time.

[@billy1673]

Phenomenal fight by both men!

[@alekx58]

Thank you Big scence

[@MrTheHumanist]

Le Banner bring me here Quality of the analyse make me sub Nice work 👍

[@chrodegang8406]

great video thanks

[@MrCzto]

Kudos to Rufus, LeBaner had a massive size amd weight advantage!

[@DatGinnga]

Great series

[@bryanmillayes9346]

I’m nowhere near their levels, but Roufus had to switch stances and avoid his right leg from getting anymore punishment. He just left it there and kept taking it.

[@alpha-cf2oi]

its always easy to say, esp afterwards

[@bryanmillayes9346]

@@alpha-cf2oi how is it hard to just switch stances? I’ve fought amateur and I’ve been hurt from leg kicks and I’ve switched stances. It throws me off, but at least it protects me from more punishment.

[@krasskar9267]

@@bryanmillayes9346 at this level, if you haven't trained specifically the alternative stance, you're basically dead. + you don't want to expose your liver to such kicks.

[@killerassassin]

Yes another video

[@starmanmcfly2752]

Jerome Le Banner was a fucking robot of destruction. Rick is tough and smart but it was Jerome's day to shine. Great vid and great match!

[@freqeist]

i was a good karateka and mix martial artist until afrter one fight I became dizzy and fell into a com H ad subdural hematomas both side and frontal lobe damage...it never rains.. anyway now I have VP shunt and epilepsy and continuos tinnutis BuT still alive and still love watching this.

[@pje3514]

supers ralentis et match magnifique! le banner a assimilé les techniques round par round, et final offensif mode tank, presque des frissons encore aujourd'hui:) il les enterrera tous!

[@Girrrrrrrr]

Yoo I knew I recognized the dude in the thumbnail....the amount of leg kicks my man took was insne. Really glad to hear he used it to improve, I think that would have broken lesser men.

[@Kindness_222]

I had a lot of respect for Rufus he was always adapting to the game by cross training and adding new skills to his arsenal was always in shape and never ducked anyone 🔥he’s truly an all time great

[@aluckyshot]

Nice break down in general.

[@MrT743]

Love these blasts from the past👌👊 As a dutchman….can you do one Bas Rutten🙄😬Well worth your time i think, in and outside the ring😁

[@PainflyErect]

Itd be nice to see a video on Qawi v Holyfield. I'm watching Joseph Vincent's tribute to Holyfield and that seems like a great fight to go into depth.

[@golantrevize2256]

Well explained

[@SamuelZamora]

Love these fights

[@JC-qi5xc]

Both Monsters, thks for this video

[@mattalibozek7258]

The sequence at 5:42 is crazy, 200 IQ move by Le Banner.

[@danielsimpson2494]

2 Living Legends

[@mystictraveler8642]

Rick did an outstanding job.

[@ying69yang78]

Jerome ""WARRIOR"" Le Banner : simply