{"id":39188,"date":"2026-07-10T00:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T00:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Israel-Adesanya-announces-departure-from-City-Kickboxing-201834"},"modified":"2026-07-10T00:10:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T00:10:00","slug":"israel-adesanya-announces-departure-from-city-kickboxing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/israel-adesanya-announces-departure-from-city-kickboxing\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel Adesanya announces departure from City Kickboxing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Former Ultimate Fighting Championship<\/a> middleweight
\nking Israel
\nAdesanya<\/a> is going in a new direction.<\/p>\n

Posting a video on his personal YouTube channel on Thursday titled
\n\u201cI\u2019m Leaving
\nCKB,\u201d<\/a> Adesanya explained that he was doing just that: departing
\nthe confines of Auckland, New Zealand-based camp City Kickboxing.
\nThe 36-year-old ex-kickboxer has fallen on hard times as of late,
\ndropping four straight, although two of his last four outings were
\nfor his old middleweight title.<\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

The split came effective May 20, per \u201cThe Last Stylebender,\u201d who
\ndoes so a little under two months after losing to Joe Pyfer<\/a> by
\nknockout in the UFC Seattle headliner. Per the fighter, he needed a
\nfresh start, and most importantly, personalized training instead of
\nbeing in a room full of top-ranked athletes who all vie for
\nattention from the coaches. Adesanya claimed it had been brewing
\nfor a while, and that he still mourns the absence of the team as a
\nmain part of his life.<\/p>\n

I am not coming back to City Kickboxing<\/h2>\n

Adesanya stated, \u201cSo [Wednesday, May 20], I spoke to [head coach]\nEugene [Bareman] face-to-face, and I told him I am not coming back
\nto CKB,\u201d Adesanya opened with in his video. \u201cThis was something a
\nlong time coming behind the scenes, and we have an understanding. I
\nwon\u2019t lie; it sucks.\u201d He continued, \u201cGrief comes in waves for me. For most people, I\u2019ve
\ngrieved before, so this, it comes in waves. I\u2019ve had great days,
\nbut also there\u2019s days where I\u2019m like [exasperated sigh]. And it\u2019s a
\nlong time coming, I just want to get it out [of] the way because I
\nwant you to hear from the horse\u2019s mouth because no one else has
\nspoken about it. I guess those who know are waiting for the ball to
\ndrop, so [motions a ball dropping] I dropped the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former champion was simultaneously gracious for those that
\nhelped him grow over the years and crestfallen that it was the end
\nof an era.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s bittersweet,\u201d he admitted, \u201cbut it\u2019s the right thing for me.
\nEspecially where I am at in my career, it\u2019s exactly what I needed.
\nInsanity is doing the same s–t and expecting different results,
\nso\u2026I think that\u2019s it, I just don\u2019t want to talk about it. It\u2019s
\nsomething like I said that sucks, I want to grieve in peace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having a bit more to get out after all, the Nigerian-born athlete
\ncarried on, saying, \u201c[If] people want to bring it up, that\u2019s cool,
\ndon\u2019t ask me about it\u20262009 is when I first went to CKB, 2010 is
\nwhen I moved over, and I established myself in Auckland to train at
\nCKB. CKB made me into the fighter that I am today. They\u2019ve trained
\na lot of great fighters. Greats, even better than myself, but me as
\nan individual, CKB made me into the fighter that I am today. But
\nalso, I was one of the main pillars who put CKB on the map on the
\nworld stage. To take it to the next level, where people from all
\nover the world want to come train at CKB, and I\u2019m proud of
\nthat.\u201d<\/p>\n

The former Glory kickboxing title challenger thanked a number of
\npeople who helped him over the years, not limited to coach Bareman
\nand fellow fighters Cameron
\nRowston<\/a>, Brogan
\nAnderson<\/a> and kickboxer Doug Viney<\/a>.
\nAbove all, he knows exactly what he needs in his next camp, and
\nthat is the personal attention of a coach who can help straighten
\nout any issues that come up as they happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I need for myself is [holds hands pensively] focused,
\nindividual training. So, I\u2019ve made the decision to leave CKB for my
\nown reasons, and yeah. I\u2019ll leave it at that,\u201d Adesanya
\nconcluded.<\/p>\n