Eugene Bareman
At a glance
- Born in Auckland in 1979, cofounded City Kickboxing in 2007 with Doug Viney
- Coached Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski to UFC titles in 2019
- MMAjunkie Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2020, with City Kickboxing named Gym of the Year both years
Overview
Eugene Bareman is a New Zealand coach, born in Auckland in 1979. In 2007 he cofounded City Kickboxing with Doug Viney, and the Auckland gym went on to produce several UFC champions. He is still its head coach and runs the fight team day to day.
2019 was the defining year: two of his fighters, Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, won UFC titles. MMAjunkie named him Coach of the Year in 2019 and 2020, and City Kickboxing took Gym of the Year in both of those years.
What you'll find
Bareman has no verified official social media account. You hear from him through interviews with MMA outlets and podcast appearances, usually around his fighters' bouts. The main link on this page points to his LinkedIn profile.
In those conversations he talks about fighter development, how a game plan gets built and how to run a gym with several champions under one roof. They tend to be long-form discussions focused on method rather than quick reactions to the news cycle.
Why follow
City Kickboxing goes well beyond Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski. The roster also includes Carlos Ulberg, Dan Hooker and Kai Kara-France, which gives you a whole group of fighters to track whenever one of them is on a card.
When Bareman breaks down a fight, he does it from the corner's point of view. You learn why a plan was chosen, what the team drilled during camp and what changed once the fight started. That is a level of technical detail you rarely get from a broadcast.
MMA Official's take
His interviews suit fans who enjoy technique and strategy, and coaches looking for ideas on how to manage a team. If you are new to him, look up his pre-fight interviews ahead of an Israel Adesanya or Alexander Volkanovski bout, then his post-fight comments, and compare the plan with what actually happened.
Since he has no official account, the easiest approach is to follow the City Kickboxing fighters themselves. Their fight weeks are when Eugene Bareman shows up in the media, and that is when his breakdowns are most useful.