"I came down hard on him" - Coach Eugene Bareman reveals he isn't being lenient with Blood Diamond after disappointing UFC debut
Coach Eugene Bareman of the world-renowned City Kickboxing (CKB) gym in New Zealand has addressed his pupil ‘Blood Diamond’ aka Mike Mathetha’s recent defeat.
Mathetha, a highly-accomplished kickboxer and teammate of UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, made his much-awaited UFC debut at UFC 271 on February 12th.
Mathetha faced Jeremiah Wells in a welterweight bout at UFC 271 and lost via first-round submission. This marked the first loss of Mathetha’s professional MMA career. His MMA record currently stands at 3-1.
Watch the clip below:
Jeremiah Wells gets the R1 tap to end it!!! 😤
[ #UFC271 | Early Prelims are LIVE on @UFCFightPass & E+ ] https://t.co/5UUfkFceOx
Recently speaking to Combat TV, Mathetha’s head coach Eugene Bareman asserted that the pressure of performing on the biggest stage of combat sports, the UFC, likely got to him. Bareman stated:
“If you have a performance like that, then I tend to come at you straight away. We got back and I was like, I looked at Blood like anybody would, like, ‘What the eff happened there?’ Like, ‘What are you doing?’ And that’s not the approach for everybody. But, I mean, my reaction, I believe, his performance warranted my reaction. And so, I came down hard on him. And I came down hard on him for the entire duration of the trip. And I’m still coming down on him.” Bareman added, “I’m not giving him any leeway. Like, he’s going to be reminded of that loss for a long time and how terrible it was.”
Bareman reiterated that he wouldn’t be this strict with every fighter. He added, however, that in 'Blood Diamond’s' case and many other fighters’ respective cases, a loss as bad as his would definitely elicit harsh criticism.
Watch Eugene Bareman’s interview with Combat TV in the video below:
Eugene Bareman believes ‘Blood Diamond’ can come back and prove his mettle in the UFC
In the immediate aftermath of ‘Blood Diamond’ losing his UFC debut, Eugene Bareman revealed that the welterweight fighter is much better than what he showed at UFC 271. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour last month, Bareman said:
“I’m very, very, very, disappointed, and 'Blood' is even more disappointed. It’s been a very emotional couple of days for 'Blood Diamond'. When you lose like that, and I’ve had a few fighters who have lost like that, Dan Hooker has lost like that, when you just get caught early and you don’t get a chance to show the people and the world what you’re capable of. It’s heart-wrenching, it’s really heart-wrenching."
Watch the full interview below:
Eugene Bareman explained that akin to how his other CKB students such as Dan Hooker and Carlos Ulberg successfully returned to their winning ways after suffering bad losses, ‘Blood Diamond’ can emerge stronger and prove that he belongs in the UFC.