Israel Adesanya’s Coach Eugene Bareman Explains ‘Fractures’ During Fight Camp

City Kickboxing Coach Eugene Bareman, coach of Israel Adesanya spoke about rough times during camp and dealing with complacency.

Bareman Adesanya
Credit City Kickboxing on Instagram

Israel Adesanya’s coach Eugene Bareman discusses some problems during his training camp.

Israel Adesanya is setting out for his sixth UFC middleweight title defense when he takes on Alex Pereira at UFC 281. Adesanya has proven himself as one of the very best fighters in the world. He has never lost n the UFC middleweight division and his only professional loss came when he tried to move up to light heavyweight to battle for that belt. Since he burst on the scene back in 2015, he already had an extensive kickboxing background and dangerous striking skills. He learned this and more at his home gym City Kickboxing. 

City Kickboxing out of New Zealand is home to several high-caliber fighters. Fellow UFC fighters Dan Hooker, Alexander Volkanovski, Tai Tuivasa, and more have trained alongside Adesanya on the City Kickboxing mat. Head coach and founder Eugene Bareman is the man responsible for the success of all these men. He makes sure things are running smoothly and takes charge when they are not. 

Eugene Bareman had to make some harsh changes in this training camp 

Bareman has not been doing many interviews during this training camp for UFC 281. He did however speak to Combat TV and explained why the City Kickboxing guys have been so quiet. 

“We, as a group of coaches felt that there was like a little bit of complacency amongst the some of the senior guys,” he said. “They were a little bit too comfortable. And we decided, as a group of coaches to address that. And we went back a little bit in order to go forward. I’ve done no interviews, I’ve let no cameras in the gym at all. There’s been no media, there’s been no hoopla, we just decided to just do this like we used to do it. And that was part and parcel of just letting everybody know and letting the fighters know, that’s at the end of the day, doesn’t matter who you are, as coaches, and team as far as we’re concerned, a piece of sh-t like the rest of us. It’s not necessarily that we think the guys needed reminded of this, but we felt it was time to make them understand that you’ve got to put your head down. Find another level, push and motivate yourself.””

There has been criticism following Adesanya in his career recently that his fights are boring. He is winning but perhaps fans would like to see a bit more flash from him. He is very outgoing and flashy outside of the cage, but his coaches felt that during camp might not be the best time to play up to the camera. 

“I’m very happy with that approach, though it caused a lot of disruption early on in the camp. There were some very clear lines drawn between the coaches, and the team and the coaches needed to be very clear that we were not there in a friendship capacity. We are here to do our job. It fractured the camp a little bit at different stages but I quickly reminded everybody that I don’t care about your feelings or emotions or if you don’t like me or if you don’t like the way that I’m doing things. I’m not here for, me and the coaches aren’t here to service that part of your ego, we’re here to simply win.”

Adesanya will have a tough test ahead of him at UFC 281 when he takes on Pereira who defeated him twice in kickboxing when they were younger. Adesanya will not be the only representative of City Kickboxing on the card, he will be joined by Hooker, Bradley Riddell, and Carlos Ulberg.

Published on November 2, 2022 at 11:20 am
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