Jarrett “The Legacy” Rouse: Crossing Over From MMA to Boxing, The Pressures of Making It in a Cut Throat Sport and Training at Wild Card

Exclusive Interview by Jesse “New School” Wright

Photos Copyright by Ringside Report

Solo Photo Credit: Jared Gross (Group Shot in Ring from Team Rouse Kickboxing Event)

“Absolutely. In boxing, there are guys with 200 to 300 amateur fights, and I’ve had 29 in kickboxing and ten in MMA, and then that’s a whole different sport. If I had any clue that I would’ve been boxing, I would’ve done a lot more amateur boxing. It’s weird, I didn’t have any want for boxing up until Tony (Holden). Tony is honestly the only reason why I’m in boxing. Once he asked me to switch over to boxing, I did it.”—Jarrett “The Legacy” Rouse

We’ve seen people make it in boxing from all walks of life. The route to entry differs from one fighter to the next. Jarrett Rouse is a case of a guy who made the adjustment from another combat sport all together. As an up and coming mixed martial artist, Jarrett had an opportunity to really break through. Right on the cusp of success, what did he do? He scrapped everything. On the verge of a nearly sure thing, Jarrett is taking a bold chance, and facing challenge that brings up many of our darkest fears of the unknown.

He’s a regular guy just like the rest of us. He is well aware of the risk he is taking, but he still moves forward daringly in to what he believes to be his true destiny. It’s not that he’s fearless. Every step of the journey has been tied to an undertone of fear. His bravery in the face of that fear is what makes Jarrett such a compelling underdog. He’s the kind of young man you love to love. It’s too soon to say if he will be great, but one thing is for certain: he’ll be leaving everything on the table before it’s all said and done.

JW: You had a pretty busy year in 2015; you had five fights, and all of them were wins. Right now you’re 9-0, 4 KO’s. For 2016 you’ve had one fight so far. What are your plans for 2016?

I’ll fight whenever Tony (Holden) says we’ll fight, but this next fight’s gonna be a six round fight, and I really wanna win. By the end of this year, I would really like to be doing 12 round fights

JW: I was talking to your dad, and he told me you’re going to be heading to Wild Card to train for a little bit. Is that soon?

I should be going March 1st. I’ll be there until my next fight (Publisher Note: This has been pushed back until after Jarrett’s next fight on March 25th at the Buffalo Run Casino in Miami, OK.)

JW: Trey (Lippe Morrison) is there already. Has he given you any heads up on what to expect when you get to Wild Card? (Both trained together in the same camp under Randy Rouse)

Yeah, I told him man, when I get there I’m just gonna get beat up. He said “Don’t look at it like that, the people there are top five and top ten guys.” I’m at the beginning of my career in boxing so I can’t expect to be at that level, but he just told me it kind of got to him for a little while, but he said it’s not near as bad now that he’s been there for so long.

JW: You just started boxing, but before that, you were a solid MMA fighter. You had a good shot at making it in UFC and you’ve trained in other martial arts right?

I’ve done MMA and I’ve done kickboxing. I started out kickboxing, then MMA started getting real big and I thought it’s smaller gloves, I’d love to do that. I found out real quick that the people doing MMA, a lot of them are wrestlers and Jiu Jitsu competitors. I was training hard for that and going to Tulsa to work on my ground game. Everyone I fought thought “he’s a kickboxer, I’m just gonna take him down.” So I had to learn some new things. It was starting to click real well, then Tony told me I needed to quit and start boxing. So I had to start all the way over again.

JW: That’s one thing I noticed when I was watching video on you. I noticed you’re really comfortable on your feet, and you’re actually pretty good on the ground too, but it looks like if you had it your way, you’d stay on your feet. Is there satisfaction in moving to a sport where you don’t have to worry about take downs, and just focus on the striking?

Yeah, it’s a lot better. I don’t have to worry about getting kicked. I don’t have to worry about him clinching, or elbowing me or taking me down, thinking about what I’m gonna have to do once we get to the ground.

At first, it stepped up in the level of complication because the guys in boxing have spent their whole lives working up to this. I’ve been spending my time trying to learn submission, wrestling, kicking, elbows, knees. I’m at a point now where I’m behind everybody else.

JW: There’s a lot of guys who have a deep amateur background, and that’s how they cut their teeth. You do have striking experience, but as far as exclusively boxing, it’s learning on the go. Is there additional pressure for you to get caught up in order to get in there with the best fighters?

Absolutely. In boxing, there are guys with 200 to 300 amateur fights, and I’ve had 29 in kickboxing and ten in MMA, and then that’s a whole different sport. If I had any clue that I would’ve been boxing, I would’ve done a lot more amateur boxing. It’s weird, I didn’t have any want for boxing up until Tony. Tony is honestly the only reason why I’m boxing. Once he asked me to switch over to boxing, I did it.

JW: What did he say that influenced you enough to drop something that was going so well and take on a different sport?

Trey was training at my dad’s gym, and Trey and I, we had a good relationship. So he came to see me fight, and it was actually a kickboxing fight. It was him and Tony, and they watched my fight. I won in the first or second round. I won by knockout, and Tony told me “you need to quit this and come over to boxing,” and I kinda told him they’ll tear me apart in boxing. I’ll have to change my stance, I honestly don’t know a whole lot about the sport, only punching. Because in kickboxing, I kick some, but I really relied on my hands to win the fight, and that’s how it was in MMA also. He said just give it a shot. You can always go back no matter what. I think I got in to it a month after that.

JW: Your mom was kickboxer turned boxer, and that worked out really well. Does she ever give you advice on that?

Not a lot. It was kind of cool that the guy I was doing my kickboxing for and my mixed martial arts for was Dale Cook, and that’s who my mom kick boxed for. Tony and Tommy Morrison got her in to boxing, then Trey (Tommy’s son) and Tony Holden got me in to boxing. So it kind of followed the exact same path. It’s weird how it worked like that.

JW: There are a lot of fighters who don’t necessarily go to work with the guys who are considered the best trainers, but they train with their parents and it works out really well. Examples are Danny Garcia and Floyd Mayweather, JR. with his father and uncle. When I asked your dad about that, he said “The thing is I know what buttons to push. If I need to motivate Jarrett, I know what to say to put him in the right mindset to do what needs to be done.” Do you feel like your Dad knows how to push your buttons the right way to put you in the mindset to be ready for a fight?

Absolutely! I had a fight where I fought a kid and I won, but I didn’t believe that I won the fight. It was probably six months later I got a match to fight him again, and I took it. My dad seemed pretty mad about it because it was gonna be an extremely hard fight, because the first one was a pretty close fight. He kind of got in my head a little bit. He questioned me whether I could win the fight or not. When I did that fight I was very motivated to just strike hard to prove it to him. I ended up breaking my hand about thirty seconds in to the fight, but it was a good fight. Motivation wise, I can see it now that he was trying to manipulate me and maybe get in to my head.

JW: (laughing) So at the time you thought he was breaking you down, but looking back he was getting you fired up.

Yeah, at the time I was thinking wow, he really doesn’t think I’m gonna beat the guy (both laughing). He played with me, but he played with me the right way.

JW: There’s a professional boxer right now who started off with a kickboxing background where he was very successful. Now he’s moved in to boxing, and he’s actually a hell of a boxer too. That’s Chris Algieri, do you follow him?

Yeah, I saw his last fight against Khan. I actually had no idea he did kickboxing.

JW: Then this might be a little bit harder to answer, but my question is whether you’ve noticed anything in him that’s carried over from kickboxing, or if his style of boxing is modified to fit his kickboxing experience. Maybe the better question is this: did you have to junk your style from kickboxing, or is it something you can carry over and adapt it to boxing?

As far as your stance goes, 100% different. In kickboxing I would have all my weight on my back foot because you have to be able to check kicks. In boxing, there’s more weight on your front foot and my stance is less squared in boxing. So in kickboxing my stance is more squared up. That still today messes with me every now and then, but that’s definitely a transition you have to get down. I’m gonna have to look at some of his fights and try to break it down now.

JW: Another thing your dad pointed out about you is that you’re a humble kid, and one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet, but when you get in the ring, it’s like a switch is hit. When I watch your fights, you have this raw energy and charisma about you. What’s the change that occurs in you once you step in that ring?

To be honest just being scared if that makes sense (laughing). I try to look at it as it’s either me or that guy that’s gonna get hurt, not that I want to seriously hurt someone, but I try to get that mindset that if one of us is gonna have to go to the hospital, I don’t want it to be me. I have a lot of scared nerves. I’m sure everyone gets them. Maybe I’m good at hiding them.

JW: I’ll be honest, when you watch it, you look confident and fired up. To the point where you wouldn’t get the sense that you have raw nerves going in there.

Oh yeah! I definitely have them.

JW: Here’s one that I talked to Trey about: when it comes to music to get pumped up, Trey told me he just listens to Drake. That’s his thing, he doesn’t change it up too much. For you when you’re getting ready to train or you’re going to get in for a fight, do you have anything you prefer to get you pumped up?

You know it’s funny, at the gym, I’ll put on Pandora and I’ll just hit random, and whatever plays I can usually work with it. Whereas when Trey’s training he’ll just be like “Uhhhh, can you just leave it on some rap? I can’t get in to this.” Before my fights, I listen to Red Hot Chili Peppers “Can’t Stop.” For some reason, that just gets me pumped up before my fights.

JW: You’re a welterweight, and as you move up the welterweight ladder, the weight division is stacked right now. Moving forward in your career what’s the goal for you?

I’d fight for free if I was financially stable, and I’m not, but as long as I’m not fighting because I’m like “I gotta have money, I need the money, I want the money.” Once things go the way that it’s all about the money, I think it’s gonna be a really big turn off. I hope that’s not a direction it goes for me. I don’t need anything crazy. Everybody wants to have nice things. I don’t need the nice things. I just want to be stable and take care of my family. If I can do that while doing something I love, that would be ideal.

JW: The priority to you would be to do it for the love of the game.

Yes!

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