Rumors have swirled regarding a potential feud between longtime teammates Carlos Ulberg and Israel Adesanya at City Kickboxing.
Carlos Ulberg reigned in a new era in the UFC light heavyweight division with a come-from-behind title win over Jiri Prochazka at UFC 327. Ulberg’s streak of wild finishes continued at UFC 327 as he overcame an early leg injury to knock out the former light heavyweight titleholder.
It was a crowning achievement for Ulberg after a long road to the UFC 327 main event. A longtime teammate of Israel Adesanya and Alexander Volkanovski, Ulberg made his own history and became the latest champion to hail from City Kickboxing.
But rumors of a rift between Ulberg and Adesanya have swirled for months, and reignited immediately after Ulberg’s victory. Fans took notice on social media when they saw that Adesanya and Ulberg had unfollowed each other on Instagram, and that Adesanya hadn’t publicly congratulated Ulberg on his title win.
Eugene Bareman addresses rumored rift between Israel Adesanya and Carlos Ulberg
In a recent interview on The Ariel Helwani Show, coach Eugene Bareman addressed rumors of bad blood between Adesanya and Ulberg at City Kickboxing.
“The boys trained together leading up to [UFC 327], and Israel’s fight. In any gym, there’s always going to be times when you’re bumping heads with people. I’ve had people sparring and training together who end up in a full-blown fistfight,” Bareman said of Adesanya and Ulberg.
“We aren’t playing chess or checkers here. It’s a physical and emotional sport, but the guys are all good. The media, social media, they can say what they want. Sometimes, my fighters aren’t getting along, but they’ve been civil to each other in the camps and it seems like whatever happened is behind them. We’ve moved on.”
As of this writing, neither Ulberg nor Adesanya has publicly addressed their relationship. Adesanya lost his fourth-straight fight earlier this year against Joe Pyfer at UFC Seattle.
Who should Carlos Ulberg and Israel Adesanya fight in their next appearances? Let us know in the comments!
