Prior to 2019 kicking off, #KiwiUFC things were simmering away with the City Kickboxing whanau settling into the grind of stacking up fights in the UFC. Israel Adesanya and Alex Volkanovski were creeping towards a title contender spot, Dan Hooker suffered a nasty loss late in 2018 while a crop of up and comers were quietly waiting to either crack into the UFC or further opportunities to establish themselves in the UFC.

I'm writing this on the last day of 2019 and Adesanya is the UFC middleweight champion, Volkanovski is the featherweight champion while Hooker stormed his way through two wins to put himself among the best in the lightweight division. In having multiple fighters aligned with CKB lock in their spots as top-tier fighters with the biggest organisation, head coach Eugene Bareman now sits as a leading contender for any 'coach of the year' honours within the MMA community and I'd suggest that Bareman is Aotearoa's coach of the year for 2019 across all sports. That's only the upper echelon as well.

Kai Kara-France was the only CKB fighter to suffer defeat in the UFC this year, losing the last of his three fights to Brandon Moreno a few weeks ago in the flyweight division. Shane Young won his only fight of the year back in February in the featherweight division before taking time to nurse injuries and we also had Brad Riddell make his UFC debut in October where he looked excessively slick in a rugged scrap vs Jamie Mullarkey at lightweight.

11-1.

11-1 in the UFC.

What CKB has done to enter 2019 in a healthy position and then explode with a 11-1 record for CKB in the UFC this year alone, is bonkers. Some of the names that CKB fighters defeated this year only amplifies how impressive CKB has been in hitting the nek level; Anderson Silva, Kelvin Gastelum, Robert Whittaker, Al Iaquinta, Jose Aldo, Max Holloway. For those fresh into MMA or UFC, just know that all those blokes listed have either been highly respected champions or at least in the contender mix. Part of my fascination with CKB's takeover revolves around little weird notes/things that I have picked up on that fill me with good vibes.

I believe that Aotearoa is the greatest sporting nation in the world, kg for kg and while a lot of this idea depends on having world-class performers across and extremely wide variety of sports, the quality of the person and how they represent Aotearoa is equally important. CKB are the hottest thing in fighting right now and CKB is rooted to Papatuanuku and Ranginui via morals, values and a culture that kiwis can be immensely proud of.

This hasn't just been a year of watching fighters from CKB enjoy the start of their harvest, it's been a year of watching how CKB folks conduct themselves and learning more about how successful organisations/teams operate. You may watch bits and pieces of Adesanya for example and take a surface level judgement that doesn't reflect this vibe, but in this specific instance of Adesanya, throughout the year he consistently laid out respect for his coaches and team.

Whether that comes in the form of Adesanya never being far from the CKB gym for too long, being around to help his comrades prepare for their fights or Bareman discussing how Adesanya is unlikely to slip up and get too far ahead of himself because of the infrastructure and guidance on offer in the CKB whanau. Bareman's even stated that a fight between Adesanya and Jon Jones doesn't tickle his toes because of the man Jones is and how that doesn't align to the CKB vibes.

Maybe it's how Bareman continuously celebrated Volkanovski's coach Joe Lopez around the fight vs Holloway. Volkanovski has spent a lot of time in Auckland, with CKB and the collaboration between CKB and Volkanovski's personal team not only saw Volkanovski win a belt, but it served as insight into family environment at CKB. This collaboration strengthens the Anzac idea we are seeing in the UFC and the lack of ego ensures that what we are experiencing is the rise of MMA in this little pocket of the world; it's a legit Anzac takeover. That Australian light heavyweight Tyson Pedro will prepare for UFC Auckland, with CKB only reinforces that.

Where has all this come from? Another beautiful note about CKB's rise to the top is that it all stems from the kaumatua leading the way.

Lolo Heimuli is the man behind Balmoral Lee Gar and Heimuli was in Luke Jumeau's corner for UFC 243 in Melbourne, where Jumeau lost his only fight of 2019. Heimuli helped spark up the careers of Ray Sefo and Mark Hunt, which to the best of my knowledge then flowed into working with current CKB coaches in Bareman, Doug Viney and Tristram Apikatoa. Mike Angove is a former fighter himself, who now does a bunch of commentating for local fights and is also part of the coaching staff. CKB isn't merely a great kiwi team, it's a hefty portion of Aotearoa's fighting history. Those who paved the way 10-20 years ago in fighting in the local and international circuit when none of this profile existed, are now instrumental in leading the CKB wave.

As far as coaching goes, new seeds are being planted. Hooker has his own gym in Auckland to further the gospel and interestingly, Riddell was part of Volkanovski's coaching staff for the Holloway fight and was in his corner barking out guidance. That's a bit crazy because Riddell has one UFC fight, but Riddell has not only worked a fair amount with Volkanovski in Auckland and Thailand (Tiger Muay Thai), there is obviously a system in place for those who have something to offer as far as coaching goes.

If all of that blows over your noggin', maybe the fact that CKB also has a ranked heavyweight boxer on the roster will hammer home how fabulous CKB is. Fa is 19-0 and won three fights in 2019, which was good enough for Fa to be 7th in the WBO rankings at year end - Joseph Parker is 2nd in WBO rankings.

Not too many folks appear to be buzzing about this, but I'm of the belief that Fa and Parker will fight and that fight will be the biggest boxing bout in Aotearoa's history. When or how that happens, I'm not sure as there will be some niggly discussions to be had; based on what I know about CKB though, Fa could be destined to surpass Parker at some juncture.

After such an epic year, it's only right that we slide into 2020 with UFC Auckland in late February. Hooker headlines this card against Paul Felder in a fight that gauge whether Hooker can work into the top-five of the lightweight division, while Brad Riddell's also in action in the lightweight division against Magomed Mustafaev. Kara-France rounds off the CKB presence, taking on Tyson Nam and the quick turn-around presents Kara-France with a chance to get right back among the wins.

Like with Volkanovski, the influece of CKB on Pedro will be interesting to watch as he fights Vinicius Moreira in Auckland. There will also heavyweight Ben Sosoli, in his second UFC fight after a no-contest vs Greg Hardy with Sosoli returning to his hometown Auckland to fight Marcos Rogerio de Lima.

As far as what the big donnies of CKB may be up to in 2020, a rematch vs Holloway appears likely for Volkanovski. Adesanya has a few options available to him in Yoel Romero and Paulo Costa; there is already niggle between Adesanya and Costa, while Romero is the great challenge to tick off. With that in mind, 2020 feels like a year in which CKB will be required to defend their turf in the UFC after snatching belts and buzz this year. Sprinkle in the possible rise of Kara-France and Riddell, there could be a rejuvenation of the CKB presence among the best of the UFC.

CKB hasn't just dominated 2019, they have done so through their rather unique system. Many good judges via CKB as being well ahead of the curve, specifically with their striking but also in terms of general skills and game plan. This has enhanced the reputation of what CKB is doing as they aren't just winning fights, they are doing so in a fresh, invigorating way that may be having a dramatic influence on the world of MMA.

2020 will be about how CKB deal with others catching up to what CKB is up to with their camp as well as tactical and stylistic elements of fights. As of right now though, CKB has established themselves as a premier team in the fighting world and the undisputed Aotearoa sports team of 2019.

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Peace and love 27.