Eugene Bareman, Israel Adesanya and more of New Zealand's MMA heavy-hitters will appear in the series Relentless.
Eugene Bareman, Israel Adesanya and more of New Zealand's MMA heavy-hitters will appear in the series Relentless.
Kiwi MMA fighter Israel Adesanya and other heavy-hitters are throwing their weight behind new TVNZ+ series Relentless, about City Kickboxing’s search for its next star. Eugene Bareman and Israel Adesanya tell Spy about the show.
Four of New Zealand’s most respected Mixed Martial Arts fighters and coaches - with the help of former UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya and some of the most well-known faces in the sport - are looking for the next MMA superstar.
Relentless is an all-access docuseries that follows six hopefuls - two women and four men - as they compete for a single place on the City Kickboxing team dropping on TVNZ+ on Tuesday.
City Kickboxing owner Eugene Bareman is head coach on the show. His fellow coaches are MMA and UFC stars Kai Kara-France, Dan Hooker and Kieran Joblin.
Eugene Bareman hopes viewers will get an insight into a sport on which many people don’t generally have any knowledge.
He and his fellow coaches were looking for the contestants who had mental resilience to cope with being physically pushed over the course of the show.
Bareman put a call out via City Kickboxing’s social media page and fighters from across the world applied, but only applicants from Australasia (who are not fully professional) could apply to be on the show.
Bareman says he hopes viewers will get an insight into a sport on which a lot of people don’t generally have any knowledge.
“They’ll quickly see the human side of the sport and that these are just ordinary, everyday people just like themselves, but they’re trying to do something extraordinary,” says Bareman.
Dan Hooker hopes the show will teach Kiwis about what it takes to be an MMA fighter.
Bareman says dedication, working through a bit of adversity and some small injuries and appreciation of the opportunity to be part of City Kickboxing were also key components.
“I think viewers will be surprised with just how much the human mind can push the human body and how the mind can conquer the physical body during a match and during some of the training we put the contestants through,” says Bareman.
He says the series is about more than fighting. “It’s about creating culture, family and a strong mental game.”
Israel Adesanya, who at 21 came up through Bareman’s gym, guest stars in two episodes. In episode two he teaches the contestants his famous mark kick, a move he tells Spy he often changes up the trajectory because all of his UFC competitors know it’s coming.
“They all did really well, to be honest. The first thing I noticed when I was teaching them was there was no weak link,” Adesanya says. “All of them listened, took instructions very well and were very coachable.”
Kieran Joblin says the prize will be life-changing for any fighter wanting to dedicate themselves to the sport.
Adesanya singles out Aussie Brodie Mayocchi and Dunedin’s Kasib Murdoch as his contestants to watch.
“I already saw Kasib fight down south one time and he stood out to me,” he reveals. “Brodie, just because he’s very f**king quiet, very mellow, but goes hard and when he is, he’s working, he pushes.”
Kieran Joblin says the prize of a spot on the world-renowned gym’s team, and a year-long scholarship and lodging to help them focus on training will be life-changing for any fighter wanting to fully dedicate themselves to the sport and not have to worry about work or bills and see how far they can really go.
Kai Kara-France had his own documentary about his life last year on TVNZ+.
Kai Kara-France, who had his own documentary about his life last year on TVNZ+, says it was awesome to see how much talent is around Australasia.
“I know a lot of people travelled to be a part of this, some from Australia and some from the South Island.”
Dan Hooker says he hopes the show teaches the mainstream about what’s involved in being a professional mixed martial artist.
“The technique, the hard work, the training, the regiment, the dedication, and just the amount of study and coaching that goes into it, then to share that with New Zealand.”
