Eugene Bareman entered the year with no UFC champions under his wing and ended it with two.

The City Kickboxing head coach had his hand in multiple monster UFC championship fights and was responsible for some of the most impressive performances seen in 2019. Working out of Auckland, New Zealand, Bareman helped Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski become UFC champions. He also groomed promising talents into contenders and helped put the Oceania region on the combat sports map.

In a sport full of sharp fighting minds, Bareman managed to become a prominent figure and is MMA Junkie’s 2019 “Coach of the Year.”

Adesanya’s rise in 2019 was Bareman’s most notable work. The Nigerian fighter went 3-0. He beat the legendary Anderson Silva in the UFC 234 main event, outlasted Kelvin Gastelum in an epic war for the UFC interim middleweight title at UFC 236, and knocked out then-champ Robert Whittaker in the most attended event in UFC history at UFC 243 in Melbourne, Australia.

Adesanya’s technique and skills were a highlight of 2019. He achieved bg things, but the way Adesanya did it was what caught many people’s attention.

Adesanya didn’t outmuscle the much older Silva, but he beat the former champ technique for technique. In the Gastelum bout, Adesanya was tested in all facets, and on top of displaying incredible conditioning and heart, he showcased a dynamic, well-rounded game that posed a threat everywhere. And in his last bout of the year, Adesanya captured the undisputed middleweight title by catching one of the most clever and slick strikers in MMA today, Whittaker.

Adesanya attributes his success to Bareman’s handiwork.

Following right behind Adesanya is Volkanovski, who also had a monumental 2019. In one calendar year, the Australian defeated the consensus two greatest featherweights in the history of the sport.

Both Jose Aldo and Max Holloway have been terrorizing the best 145-pound fighters on the planet for years. Volkanovski outpointed both men: Aldo at UFC 237 and Holloway at UFC 245.

Volkanovski’s magic was in part created in the City Kickboxing quarters. (He also trains in Australia at Freestyle Fighting Gym.)

And below the two UFC champs, Bareman also had several successful fighters under his tutelage who made plenty of noise.

Dan Hooker bounced back from a bad beating against Edson Barboza in 2018 by notching two impressive victories and setting himself as a serious contender at 155 pounds, arguably the UFC’s toughest division.

Hooker knocked out James Vick at UFC on ESPN 4 and outpointed former title challenger Al Iaquinta at UFC 243. Hooker has a lot of promise and is is quickly becoming a major threat at a world-class level.

Also worth noting, prospect Kai Kara-France went 2-1 in the UFC and is in the UFC’s top 10 at flyweight. Young City Kickboxing products Shane Young and Brad Riddell also made successful UFC debuts in 2019 and show promise heading into the new year.

Bareman’s work in the best MMA organization in the world is first-class. The impact he’s had on the making of some of the best fighters today is undeniable. In a short amount of time, Bareman’s City Kickboxing has become one of the best gyms in the world and Oceania now is becoming a hotbed for talent in MMA.

Also see:

• MMA Junkie’s 2019 ‘Fight of the Year’: Israel Adesanya vs. Kelvin Gastelum
• MMA Junkie’s 2019 ‘Under-the-Radar Fighter of the Year’: Geoff Neal