Coach on Possibility of Israel Adesanya Competing at UFC 300: 'We’re Ready to Go'

The speculation surrounding the main event of UFC 300 has reached a fever pitch in the last few weeks. One of the matchups that has been on the radar is Israel Adesanya vs. Dricus Du Plessis for the middleweight title.

Eugene Bareman, Adesanya’s longtime head trainer at City Kickboxing, told The MacLife that “The Last Stylebender” is already in camp for a possible clash at UFC 300.

“I can say that we are ready to fight. Israel is ready to fight.” Bareman said. “He is in camp, has been in camp, and we answered that call. ‘Can you be ready for this?’ And we assessed it because Israel is coming off an injury... And we decided as a team that, yeah, let's get into camp. Let’s come back a little earlier at, some risk, some proper risk. There is a strong possibility that this fight could happen on this date and let's act as if we are fighting on that date. So, we are ready to go.”

The City Kickboxing head also explained the reasoning behind the team choosing to get back in camp for UFC 300 despite Adesanya’s decision to take a hiatus from the sport following a one-sided unanimous decision title loss to Sean Strickland at UFC 293 in September last year.

"More importantly, we don't want to be the guy, the team that lets down this company that’s given us so much. And we don’t want to let down the fans out there,” Bareman said. “This is the biggest event in UFC history. If it means Israel having to push his schedule and double down on his rehab and get better. We’re just not willing to be the guy that will disappoint the world and the company if they need us. We are just not going to do that. That would be more detrimental for us moving forward than it would help us and we’re just not willing to do that. So, that’s just as big a factor in our decision as well. So,we’re ready to go brother.”

Bareman didn’t comment on whether the clash had been officially finalized on Du Plessis’ side but reiterated that his pupil will not be the reason their potential title fight ultimately fails to materialize on April 13.

Du Plessis recently secured the middleweight title in a main event clash against Sean Strickland at UFC 297 in January.