"There was like a little bit of complacency" - Israel Adesanya's head coach Eugene Bareman on not letting cameras inside the gym and turning up training intensity
Israel Adesanya's head coach Eugene Bareman was recently asked about the amped up training at his City Kickboxing gym. According to Bareman, he, along with other coaches, felt that the senior fighters at CKB were getting a little bit complacent.
Based out of Auckland, the gym has certainly garnered media attention in recent years with the rise of stars like Adesanya, Alexander Volkanovski and now Kai Kara-France. But as 'The Last Stylebender' prepares for his upcoming title defense against Alex Periera, Bareman feels the need to go back to his basics.
The CKB head coach banned all media from the gym, making a statement to top level fighters about where they belong. In a recent interview with Combat TV, Bareman said:
"There's a reason and we as a group of coaches felt that there was like a little bit of complacency amongst some of the senior guys. And 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."
He added:
"And other than maybe one interview with you, 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 do this like we used to do it."
Catch Eugene Bareman's comments below:
Israel Adesanya talks about his intensified training camp
Israel Adesanya will look to avenge two kickboxing losses, including a 2017 knockout, when he faces Alex Pereira at UFC 281. The UFC middleweight champion recently described substantial changes in his training camp leading up to the fight.
According to Adesanya, his training camp is not one but three steps up compared to his previous camps. 'The Last Stylebender' is seemingly very confident of his and his teammates' fitness going into UFC 281. He said in an interview with Combat TV:
"This camp isn't just a step up, it's more like three steps up. Dan [Hooker] put it in the way like Eugene [Bareman] shook a snow globe. The last three weeks have been work, work so I know what's gonna happen. I know what we have to do, us four that is, to get the job done because we're fit. I can tell you that much - we're fit. We're already great fighters but we're really fit right now."
Catch Israel Adesanya's comments (0:40) below: