Updated

Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 10

Israel Adesanya Leaves City Kickboxing After 4 Straight Losses, Seeking Individual Training

Updated

Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 10

Israel Adesanya Leaves City Kickboxing After 4 Straight Losses, Seeking Individual Training

Q: What 'insanity' forced Israel Adesanya to abandon the coach who made him a champion?

The “insanity,” in Adesanya’s own framing, was staying with the same training setup and expecting his results to change. Explaining his split from Eugene Bareman and City Kickboxing, he invoked the line, “Insanity is doing the same shit and expecting a different result,” making clear that a prolonged slump convinced him he needed a different approach. Neither Adesanya nor Bareman publicly pointed to a personal falling-out. Instead, the break appears rooted in performance. After a difficult stretch in his career, Adesanya said the move had been “a long time coming behind the scenes” and was “the right thing for me, especially where I’m at in my career.” He said he now wants an “individual program” so his preparation can be more tailored and receive more focused attention. That is significant because Bareman and City Kickboxing were central to Adesanya’s rise: they helped build him into a UFC champion, and together they produced one of the most successful middleweight runs of his era. But Adesanya’s view now is that the formula that once made him elite is no longer enough to reverse his recent decline. So the force behind the split was not one dramatic incident. It was Adesanya’s belief that repeating the same coaching and camp structure after a tough run would be self-defeating. He appears to see change—not loyalty to a proven past—as his best chance to revive his career.

3 articles · Updated · Yahoo Sports · Jul 10

May 20 marked Adesanya’s split from City Kickboxing, a move he disclosed in a YouTube video after nearly 16 years tied to the Auckland gym.
Four straight defeats drove the decision, with the 36-year-old saying he needed a fresh start and more focused one-on-one coaching instead of sharing attention in a room full of elite fighters.
Joe Pyfer’s knockout win over Adesanya in the UFC Seattle main event came less than two months before the announcement and capped the latest setback in his slide.
City Kickboxing had shaped Adesanya since 2009, he said, while adding that he also helped elevate the camp globally—making the break with Eugene Bareman and the team “bittersweet.”