Imago
Credits: IMAGO
Imago
Credits: IMAGO
Carlos Ulberg‘s title-winning performance at UFC 327 against Jiri Prochazka should have been the only story out of Miami. Instead, the focus quickly went to something beyond the cage—a rumored feud with longtime teammate Israel Adesanya.
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And to be fair, the speculation didn’t come out of nowhere. Fans noticed Ulberg and ‘The Last Stylebender’ had stopped following each other on social media, and the former middleweight champion was nowhere to be seen during fight week. There were also no public congratulations, which stuck out given how close the two have been throughout their careers at City Kickboxing.
So, is it really that bad? Not exactly. As per their coach, Eugene Bareman, the situation isn’t nearly as serious as it seems. Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Bareman made it clear that both Israel Adesanya and Carlos Ulberg had been training together leading into their respective camps, shutting down the idea of any serious divide.
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“The boys trained together leading up to this camp,” he said. “And they trained together leading up to Israel’s fight. Mate, look, in any gym, there’s always going to be times when you’re bumping heads with people.
“I’ve had people’s men train together, and they end up in a full-blown fistfight. And then they don’t get up and make friends until two weeks later. Like, we are not playing chess or checkers here. Things happen.”
Eugene Bareman responds to recent reports of a rift between Carlos Ulberg and Israel Adesanya:
“The boys trained together leading up to this camp, and they trained together leading up to Israel’s fight. In any gym, there are always going to be times when you’re bumping heads… pic.twitter.com/0awV04VkPl
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 13, 2026
It’s a grounded perspective that represents the realities of a high-level fight camp. According to coach Bareman, disagreements—even physical ones—aren’t uncommon in such an intense setting.
He also highlighted how quickly narratives often spiral once they reach social media. For him, the current situation says more about how stories spread than what’s actually happening behind the scenes.
“For whatever reason, social media has taken off of this one,” he said. “It’s just gonna fly wherever it flies, but yeah, that’s from the horse’s mouth.”
However, this doesn’t mean that everything has always been perfect. Eugene Bareman admitted that there had been moments in the past between Israel Adesanya and Carlos Ulberg, but claimed that those difficulties are no longer relevant.
“Like I just said, sometimes they’re not getting along,” he admitted. “But you know, right now they train together; they’re civil to each other throughout the camp.
“It seems like whatever happened is behind them, and we’ve moved on.”
Carlos Ulberg and Israel Adesanya have yet to openly address the situation. However, from the perspective of the man who coaches both fighters, the story is significantly less dramatic than it seems. At least inside the gym, it’s just business as usual. Especially when, according to the coach, Israel Adesanya has some ‘soul searching’ to do.
Eugene Bareman hints about what’s going wrong for Israel Adesanya
When you consider Israel Adesanya’s current situation, “business as usual” inside the gym takes on a new meaning. While the outer world has focused on relationships, the true concern seems to be his form. After his fourth consecutive loss, the conversation has shifted, and even those closest to him aren’t ignoring it.
Eugene Bareman believes the problem isn’t that ‘The Last Stylebender’ has lost his ability. It’s just that it’s no longer showing up consistently anymore.
“I know where the changes have to be made for Israel,” he told Submission Radio. “I’m not going to talk about those publicly, but you see glimmers, right? You see glimmers of the old Israel.
“So, it’s just about turning those glimmers into longer, sustained bouts of effort.”
The challenge, as he stated, is making those moments sustained rather than temporary. That’s why Eugene Bareman pointed inward rather than outward. Instead of technical fixes, he highlighted the need for reflection.
“He just has to do some soul searching, mate, like you do after every fight,” he added. “Every fighter after they lose has to tuck themselves away in the forest or in a dark room for 24 hours or whatever they do.
“They have to figure life out, so that’s just what Israel has to do. He has to find it inside him. He has to search deep this time.”
According to him, Israel Adesanya must now take a step back and mentally regroup, just like fighters do after a tough loss. Not because he’s finished, but because what follows next depends on whether he can rediscover that version of himself again.
