Israel Adesanya is done with City Kickboxing, and this is not some tiny gym-switch footnote. The former UFC middleweight champion said he personally told Eugene Bareman that he is leaving the Auckland room that helped build him, a major reset after his rough slide following the Joe Pyfer loss and the ranking hit that followed.
Adesanya made the announcement on his FREESTYLEBENDER YouTube channel while opening a broader UFC 329 breakdown. The split ends a run that dates back to his early days in New Zealand, back when Adesanya was still publicly tied to City Kickboxing even while moving to America. Now the partnership is getting the full walkout music.
Watch Adesanya explain the move below:
Adesanya Says The City Kickboxing Split Was A Long Time Coming
Adesanya said the conversation with Bareman happened face-to-face on May 20, and he framed it as something both sides had already felt building behind the curtain.
“So, Wednesday 20th May, I spoke to Eugene face to face and I told him I am not coming back to CKB. This was something a long time coming behind the scenes and we have an understanding.”
The former champion did not dress it up like a business memo. He admitted the move hurt, said the grief came in waves, and still made it clear that staying in the same setup no longer made sense for where his career sits right now.
“Yeah, I won’t lie, it sucks. Not anymore. Grief comes in waves for me. I’ve had great days, but also there’s days where I’m like… yeah, like I said, it’s a long time coming.”
Then came the line that explains the whole thing without needing a whiteboard. Adesanya said the decision is about changing the work before another UFC run, not torching the gym that helped turn him into one of the most famous strikers MMA has ever had.
“It’s bittersweet, but it’s the right thing for me, especially where I’m at in my career. It’s exactly what I needed. Insanity is doing the same s— and expecting a different result.”
That is important because Adesanya is no longer fighting from the same mountaintop. Since knocking out Alex Pereira at UFC 287, he has been stuck in the kind of skid that makes every training decision feel like fight-week news. MiddleEasy previously covered the fallout when Pyfer climbed and Adesanya fell out of the UFC middleweight top five, and this move fits the same uncomfortable chapter.
Adesanya still gave City Kickboxing its flowers. He said he first went to the gym in 2009, settled into Auckland in 2010, and credited the team with making him the fighter fans know today. He also pushed back against the idea that CKB was only one man, shouting out the broader crew that helped keep the machine moving.
“CKB made me into the fighter that I am today. They’ve trained a lot of great fighters, great even better than myself. But me as an individual, CKB made me to the fighter that I am today. But also, I was one of the main pillars who put CKB on the map on the world stage.”
The important part came at the end, where Adesanya finally named the training need driving the move.
“What I need for myself is focused individual training. So I’ve made the decision to leave CKB for my own reasons and yeah, I’ll leave it at that.”
There is no announced next fight yet, and Adesanya did not name a new team. Bareman has also not publicly answered the departure as of this writing. That leaves the next stage wide open, which is fitting for a fighter who has spent the last few years bouncing between superstar wins, ugly losses, and stubborn promises that he is not finished.
For City Kickboxing, this is a real era marker. The gym still has world-class names, but Adesanya was the giant neon sign outside the building. For Adesanya, the move is simple enough to understand even if it lands heavy. The old formula built a champion. Now he is betting a different formula can keep the last act from getting ugly, especially with the UFC middleweight picture already moving without him and names like Abus Magomedov calling for his shot.
