Israel Adesanya and Eugene Bareman. Photo / Getty Images
Israel Adesanya and Eugene Bareman. Photo / Getty Images
Over the past two years, Eugene Bareman has become a global star in the world of mixed martial arts.
The head coach at Auckland's City Kickboxing, Bareman's stable of fighters has taken the UFC by storm. Included in his team are UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya, No 1 featherweight contenderAlexander Volkanovski, top 10-ranked Kai Kara-France (flyweight) and Dan Hooker (lightweight), and rising stars Shane Young (featherweight) and Brad Riddell (lightweight).
But while the gym has soared to superstardom, it could have all been different if he had turned his back on the sport seven years ago.
Israel Adesanya won the undisputed middleweight championship at UFC 243. Photo / Photosport
Bareman suffered every coach's worst fear in Tahiti in 2012, when he travelled with one of his students, Willman Rodriguez Gomez, who was making his professional boxing debut.
Gomez collapsed 32 seconds into the fight and was pronounced dead an hour later in hospital. Speaking to ESPN's Ariel Helwani, Bareman said Gomez had some health issues that weren't picked up and were then exacerbated in the fight.
"He passed away in my arms in the ring that night," he said.
"After that fight, after that tragedy, I didn't really want anything to do with the sport, to be honest. I thought if this is the sort of tragedy that a sport like this can bring someone, and bring a family and loved ones, then what's the point in it? It trumps everything; it's not worth the risk.
"I didn't want to have anything to do with the sport. I just wanted to fade away and take my life in a different direction."
Ready to turn his back on the sport, Bareman was posed a question by a teacher of his own months after the tragedy that changed his outlook: Your students are still going to fight – everyone's still going to continue their career. Is there anybody on this planet that you trust to look after their lives more than yourself?
Dan Hooker is currently ranked No7 in the UFC lightweight division. Photo / Getty Images
"I'd never thought about it like that. I thought about that question. It resonated with me and kept going over in my head and at the end of the day the answer was no. There was no one else on the planet Earth that I would trust more than myself to look after those guys, make sure they get in that cage and back out safely. There wasn't a single person, so I knew I had to continue this journey.
"I believe in some sort of way Willman was influential in me making that decision to stick with the sport."
Now seven years on, City Kickboxing is full of talented fighters competing around the world in boxing, Muay Thai, Kickboxing and MMA. Earlier this month, Bareman led Adesanya, Hooker and Riddell to impressive wins at UFC 243 in Melbourne – with Adesanya claiming the middleweight championship.
Bareman took the championship belt to Tahiti last week to pay homage to Gomez, and visited the building in which the tragedy took place.
"I believe if it wasn't for him, none of this would have happened," Bareman told ESPN. "I would have left the sport."
Bareman is one of the leading contenders for 2019 coach of the year, with City Kickboxing's UFC stable running up a 10-0 record this year. Since the start of 2018, the stable has a 21-1 record inside the octagon.
Kai Kara-France is one of the UFC's top flyweight contenders. Photo / Getty Images
That record will change before the year comes to an end, with Kara-France and Volkanovski both confirmed to fight at UFC 245 in Las Vegas on December 15 (NZ time).
Kara-France faces fellow top-10 flyweight contender Brandon Moreno, while Volkanovski will look to take the featherweight title out of Max Holloway's grasp.
