Israel Adesanya Walks Away From CKB After 17 Years

Israel Adesanya walked into City Kickboxing for the first time in 2009. He was a skinny Nigerian kid who'd moved to New Zealand with a dream and a kickboxing record that nobody in Auckland had heard of. The gym was small. The roster was unknown. And the partnership between Adesanya and head coach Eugene Bareman was about to become one of the most successful fighter-trainer relationships in UFC history.

Seventeen years later, Adesanya sat down with Bareman face to face on May 20 and told him he's not coming back.

"This was something a long time coming behind the scenes. We have an understanding. I won't lie, it sucks."

Then the line that tells you everything about where his head is at.

"Insanity is doing the same sh** and expecting a different result."

The man who won the middleweight title, defended it six times, beat some of the best fighters on the planet, and put CKB on the world map just called his training situation insane. And then he left.

What CKB Built

You can't tell the Adesanya story without CKB and you can't tell the CKB story without Adesanya. They grew together.

When Izzy arrived in Auckland in 2010, CKB was a good gym. Local talent, solid coaching. The kind of place that produced tough regional fighters but hadn't broken through internationally. Adesanya changed that. His run to the middleweight title at UFC 243 in 2019 put CKB on the map globally. Suddenly fighters from around the world wanted to train in Auckland because the gym that made Adesanya had clearly figured something out.

And it wasn't just Izzy. CKB produced Dan Hooker, Alexander Volkanovski, Kai Kara-France, and Carlos Ulberg who currently holds the light heavyweight title. Bareman built a factory of UFC caliber fighters and Adesanya was the flagship product.

Six title defenses. Wins over Whittaker twice, Paulo Costa, Jared Cannonier, and Marvin Vettori twice. The knockout of Alex Pereira at UFC 287 to reclaim the belt was supposed to be the peak of the second act. The redemption story. The man who got knocked out took the belt back.

That was the last time everything felt right.

The Slide

Since that Pereira knockout win in April 2023, Adesanya has lost four consecutive fights. The worst skid of his career by a long shot bro.

Lost the belt to Strickland at UFC 293 in one of the biggest upsets in middleweight history. Lost to Dricus du Plessis trying to get it back. Lost to Nassourdine Imavov. Lost to Joe Pyfer by TKO at UFC Seattle in March. Each loss worse than the last. The distance between the Adesanya who made Anderson Silva comparisons look reasonable and the Adesanya getting stopped by Joe Pyfer is genuinely hard to reconcile.

After the Pyfer loss, Bareman went to media and said Adesanya needs to "do some soul searching." That's a coach publicly saying his fighter has problems that can't be fixed in the gym. Problems with motivation. Problems with commitment. Problems that exist between the ears, not between the ropes.

Whether that comment pushed Adesanya toward the door or whether the decision was already made is something only Izzy knows. But "do some soul searching" from your coach of 17 years, spoken publicly to reporters, is not something most fighters can hear and then walk back into the same room on Monday morning.

"I Was One of the Main Pillars"

Here's what stuck with me about Adesanya's announcement.

He wasn't angry or bitter. He gave CKB credit while simultaneously claiming ownership of what his presence did for the gym. Both things were true and he said both of them.

"CKB made me into the fighter that I am today. They've trained a lot of great fighters, greats even better than myself. But me as an individual, CKB made me into 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."

That's a man acknowledging that the relationship worked both ways. The gym built the fighter. The fighter built the gym's reputation. And now the partnership has run its course because the fighter who needs individual attention can't get it in a room full of world class athletes who all need the same coaches.

CKB is massive now. Ulberg is the light heavyweight champion training there. Volkanovski is still in the room. Hooker is still in the room. When Bareman has a champion, former champions, and top contenders all competing for coaching time, the guy on a four fight losing streak is going to get less attention. Not intentionally. Just mathematically. There are only so many hours in a training day.

"What I need for myself is focused, individual training."

That's Adesanya saying the gym got too big for what he needs right now. Not that it's bad. Not that Bareman failed him. Just that the formula that built a champion can't fix a fighter who's lost four straight because the formula is being shared with too many people who also need it.

Eugene Bareman's Response Was Class

Eugene Bareman posted a statement on Medium and it was exactly what you'd want from a coach who just lost his most famous fighter.

"Firstly I'd like to congratulate Israel for all he has achieved and given to NZ Sports. First UFC Champion, first Mixed Martial Arts Halberg Winner, first two time UFC Champion and undoubtedly one of the greatest of all time. Izzy has been a major pillar of the success of City Kickboxing."

Then the part that matters.

"Regarding his decision to move on, all fighters go through different stages in their career and ultimately, sometimes a change can provide the catalyst to reinvigorate, to try new things and forge new success. He is welcome at CKB and will always be part of our family."

No shots no passive aggression. No "he wasn't showing up to training" or "we tried everything." Just respect for what they built together and an open door if Adesanya ever wants to come back.

That's how you handle it. Two people who spent 17 years building something special acknowledging that the partnership reached its natural end without destroying what came before.

What Comes Next

Adesanya is 36. Turns 37 later this month. He's 24-6 on a four fight losing streak. Without a gym for the first time in his adult life. And he says he still wants to fight before the end of 2026.

No new gym announced. No new coach announced. No opponent named. Just a former champion sitting alone for the first time since he was a teenager in New Zealand saying "I need to figure this out on my own."

We wrote about Adesanya before the Imavov fight and said it might be his last chance to prove he's not done. He lost that fight. Then he lost the Pyfer fight. And now he's left the gym that made him because staying would mean doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Whether leaving CKB fixes what's broken in Adesanya's career is a question nobody can answer until he fights again. Maybe a new coach sees something Bareman missed. Maybe individual training eliminates the distractions that come with being in a room full of champions. Maybe the change of scenery is the catalyst Bareman himself said it could be.

Or maybe four straight losses at 36 is the career telling you what the ego won't accept. That the body and the reflexes and the timing that made "The Last Stylebender" one of the most electrifying fighters in UFC history aren't coming back regardless of who's holding the pads.

Adesanya said "grief comes in waves." He's grieving the end of 17 years. He's grieving the losing streak. He's grieving the version of himself that made everybody in the middleweight division afraid to stand with him.

But grief and quitting are different things. And Adesanya said he's not done. "It's exactly what I needed."

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