Sergio Pettis will make his pro MMA debut on September 10th.

Famed Mixed Martial Arts trainer and world champion kickboxer Duke Roufus will be heading to Winnipeg on Saturday, September 10th for CFC 7.  Roufus has trained such UFC fighters as Alan Belcher, Ben Rothwell, Pat Barry, Anthony Pettis, and Erik Koch and many more.  Duke will be bringing two of his MMA protégés with him to Winnipeg – the Pettis brothers, Anthony and Sergio.

Everyone knows Anthony Pettis.  ”Showtime” threw the kick heard round the world when he jumped off the cage and landed a head kick that sealed his WEC championship victory over Benson Henderson.  At only 24, the older Pettis brother is 13-2 in his career and working his way towards a UFC title.

Duke and Showtime will be holding a seminar at the Canadian Fighting Center for CFC gym members on Thursday, September 8th between 7 and 9 pm. Roufus and his UFC star will be going over some of the creative techniques that he has refined in his Roufusport gym in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

“I can do the Showtime kick.  I am always trying little variations and nuances of techniques,” says Roufus. “We have sparring days every Saturday where  everyone has fun and tries new stuff just like I did on the outdoor basketball court when I was young.  We try to embrace the Spartan mentality.  We want to be creative Spartans.  Creative Spartans will beat tough Spartans.”

That Spartan mentality will be shown to CFC students on September 8th as Roufus and the UFC’s Anthony Pettis will instruct participants on some of their hybrid MMA/Kickboxing techniques.  Expect a few cool submissions to be shown by Anthony Pettis at the seminar as well.

After the seminar, Roufus will start preparing the younger Pettis brother for his first professional MMA fight. Sergio, who is now 18 years old, will be taking on Kyle Vivian on September 10th at CFC 7.

Unlike Anthony, who Roufus calls “intelligently ferocious”, Sergio is “methodical like a computer.”   Duke compares Sergio to Rory MacDonald, a Canadian who is frequently called a new breed of fighter.  ”Sergio is precision-like with his strikes and at 18 is a mature fighter, a calculated fighter.  He is a good high school wrestler, a good Muay Thai fighter, and good at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.”

But surely there is a lot pressure on Sergio, who lives in the shadow of his WEC champion brother Anthony?  Can he live up to the hype?  This is something Duke has experienced as Duke is the younger brother of world champion kickboxer Rick Roufus.  Duke feels Sergio is mature enough to handle the pressure and states, “a fighter could not have a better older brother” than Anthony.  Not only can do they always have a practise partner but Anthony “has to be there for his brother.”  In fact, Anthony had to cancel some lucrative sponsor engagements because he “would not miss (Sergio’s debut) for the world,” says Roufus.

Fans can pick up tickets to see Sergio Pettis’ debut at http://canadianfighting.com/tickets.  VIP table seats are scarce but general admission tickets for $25 are still available.  Roufus knows the fans will be coming out to watch in big numbers.

“The Canadian market is huge and are great supporters of MMA.  It is great exposure for a fighter like Sergio.  Per capita the fan base is much bigger in a place like Winnipeg.”

It will be incredible to be at the Winnipeg Convention Centre to see the launching of Sergio Pettis’ career on September 10th at CFC 7.  Perhaps it will be the beginning of another Pettis’ run for a UFC title.