City Kickboxing Explained

City Kickboxing is a mixed martial arts training gym based in Auckland, New Zealand. The gym features professional fighters who have competed in many major promotions, such as the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), Bellator, ONE Championship, and Dibella Entertainment (Boxing).

History

Eugene Bareman and Doug Viney founded City Kickboxing in 2007.^[1] The duo hoped that having their own premises would allow them to focus more on their training but quickly found the economics of running a gym was all-consuming and soon after transitioned to training professional fighters.^[2]

Notable students & alumnae

MMA

• Israel Adesanya - Former UFC Middleweight Champion^[3]
• Alexander Volkanovski - Former UFC Featherweight Champion^{[4] [5]}
• Kai Kara-France - #4 ranked UFC flyweight^[6]
• Dan Hooker - #11 ranked UFC lightweight^[6]
• Shane Young - UFC featherweight fighter
• Brad Riddell - UFC lightweight fighter
• Carlos Ulberg - #10 ranked UFC light heavyweight fighter
• Tyson Pedro - UFC light heavyweight fighter
• Kevin Jousset - UFC welterweight fighter and former HEX two-division champion

• Champions and rankings as of July 15, 2024

Boxing

• Junior Fa - former WBO Oriental interim & New Zealand national (NZPBA version) Heavyweight Champion
• Hemi Ahio - current WBC Middle East, Former IBO Oceania, two time New Zealand national (NZNBF & PBCNZ version) Heavyweight Champion
• Baby Nansen - former New Zealand national (PBCNZ version) & South Pacific (PBCNZ version) Super Lightweight Champion

Awards

After both Adesanya and Volkanovski claimed UFC championships in 2019, Bareman and City Kickboxing were named as the Coach of the Year and the Gym of the Year, respectively, by MMAJunkie.com.^{[7] [8]}

• MMAjunkie.com
  • 2019 Gym of the Year
  • 2019 Coach of the Year (Eugene Bareman)
• CombatPress.com
  • 2019 Gym of the Year^[9]
  • 2019 Coach of the Year (Eugene Bareman)
  • 2020 Gym of the Year^[10]
  • 2020 Coach of the Year (Eugene Bareman)
  • 2021 Gym of the Year^[11]
• World MMA Awards
  • 2022 Gym of the Year^[12]
  • 2022 Coach of the Year (Eugene Bareman)

See also

• List of professional MMA training camps

Notes and References

1. News: City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman praises 'masterminds' behind Israel Adesanya's title win. 2018-04-21. nzherald.co.nz. 2019-12-20. en-NZ.
2. News: Eugene Bareman and the unlikely protagonists of City Kickboxing's biggest week. 2018-06-05. mmafighting.com. 2019-12-20. en-NZ.
3. News: Israel Adesanya's City Kickboxing teammates' emotional TV celebration. 2019-10-08. stuff.co.nz. 2019-12-20. en-NZ.
4. News: Alex Volkanovski backing City Kickboxing teammate Israel Adesanya to beat Rob Whittaker. 2019-10-04. sportingnews.com. 2019-12-20. en-AU.
5. News: Israel Adesanya joined by new champ at City Kickboxing in Alex Volkanovski. 2019-12-15. stuff.co.nz. 2019-12-20. en-NZ.
6. Web site: Rankings UFC. www.ufc.com. 2020-02-26.
7. Web site: MMA Junkie's 2019 'Coach of the Year': Eugene Bareman of City Kickboxing. Danny Segura. mmajunkie.com. January 4, 2020.
8. Web site: MMA Junkie's 2019 'Gym of the Year': City Kickboxing. Nolan King. mmajunkie.com. January 8, 2020.
9. Web site: Combat Press 2019 MMA Awards: Other Categories. Bryan Henderson. combatpress.com. January 22, 2020.
10. Web site: Combat Press 2020 MMA Awards: Other Categories. Matthew Petela. combatpress.com. January 6, 2021.
11. Web site: Combat Press 2021 MMA Awards: Gym of the Year – City Kickboxing. February 3, 2022. Matthew Petela. combatpress.com.
12. Web site: MMA Fighting Newswire. 2022-12-09. 2022 World MMA Awards Results. mmafighting.com. 17 December 2022.