UFC: Aaron Tau still on radar despite loss in Dana White’s Contender Series, Eugene Bareman says

Dan Hooker (left) and Eugene Bareman (right) were in Aaron Tau's corner for his bout in Dana White's Contender Series. Photo / Getty Images

Aaron Tau remains on the UFC’s radar.

While the Kiwi bantamweight fell to a unanimous decision loss in his bid to earn a UFC contract in Dana White’s Contender Series on Wednesday, it is far from the end of the road for the 31-year-old.

Speaking to the Herald, Eugene Bareman, Tau’s coach from Auckland gym City Kickboxing, said there had been positive feedback following Tau’s performance in a bout entertaining enough that many questioned if the UFC would sign both athletes.

“I think Aaron’s done his job,” Bareman said.

“I think Aaron will get another opportunity of some sort and I think it’ll be sooner than later, so hopefully, I don’t think he’ll have to wait until next year’s Contenders.

“I think he’s done enough, from the comments that I’ve got behind the scenes, to impress them enough that he just has to keep fighting and stay ready and he’s right knocking on the front door.”

Tau made a slow start in his bout against American Elijah Smith, who fought well behind his reach advantage. Smith was ready to throw every time Tau stepped in to try and close the distance, which saw Tau struggle to find a way inside.

Smith also mixed his wrestling in well to take his Kiwi adversary down twice in the opening five minutes, though wasn’t able to hold Tau down for long; Tau showing his strength to get back to his feet.

Down a round on the scorecards, Tau made a stronger start to the second. He walked forward behind a tight guard in order to close the distance, beginning to have more success with his striking and showing his defensive grappling.

Things looked bad for Tau toward the back end of the second round when Smith appeared to have an anaconda choke locked in, but Tau didn’t panic and worked his way back to distance and landed some good shots before the round ended.

The third round was one-way traffic, Tau unloading on Smith but unable to find the shot to end it.

“He just had to probably finesse it a little bit, that’s all,” Bareman said of the final round.

“It’s like playing catch-up football. You know what you have to do and sometimes you throw the ball around a bit too much at your own risk, so that’s all that was happening.

“But I still think Aaron’s the best bantamweight in Australasia.”

Tau was the third athlete from City Kickboxing to compete in the Contender Series this season; light heavyweight Navajo Stirling earned a contract last week after a second-round knockout win, while middleweight Cam Rowston fell to a unanimous decision loss earlier in the season.

Bareman said he was happy with how his fighters performed and the future was looking bright for the sport.

“I just feel a bit sad for Cam. I feel like he was hard done by. Like, if I look at all the other middleweight fights that were happening around, we would have easily done well against any one of those guys. But Contenders is sometimes a hard road for some people and sometimes it’s the easy road - it’s a bit of a luck of the draw.

“But I’m happy. I thought the boys performed well. I’m sure Aaron will get another opportunity, I’m sure Cam will get another opportunity and then bring on next year - I’ll have another group of three or four guys going through, I’m sure, so the future is looking bright.”

Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.