After laying everything out for the Kiwi-UFC City Kickboxing takeover of UFC 253 on Sunday (NZT), here we have some more specific details and the best content around the CKB whanau in United Arab Emirates. Let's start with the Kiwi-UFC 253 menu...

The fourth fight of the event will be Shane Young vs Ludovit Klein, then the sixth fight is Brad Riddell vs Alex da Silva. These two fights will be on the prelim section of the card, with Riddell's fight the last fight before the main card starts.

The main card consists of five fights, with Kai Kara-France vs Brandon Royval the third fight on the main card. After France's bout, Dominick Reyes and Jan Blachowicz will fight for the light heavyweight title and then Israel Adesanya vs Paulo Costa will headline the event with a middleweight title fight.

As one could expect with this being a Kiwi-UFC CKB takeover, these four fighters aren't the only kiwis who have taken a whole lot of flights to get to UAE. Eugene Bareman is the kaumatua of CKB and started CKB with Doug Viney, with Bareman the lead coach who travels with the UFC fighters. Here's how Bareman's 2020 has looked thus far...

UFC Fight Night - Auckland - February 23

Three CKB fighters involved; Dan Hooker, Riddell, Kara-France.

UFC 248 - Las Vegas - March 7

Cornered Adesanya in his win vs Yoel Romero, defending middleweight title.

UFC on ESPN - Las Vegas - June 27

Cornered Dan Hooker in his loss vs Dustin Poirier (Hooker returned to NZ, Bareman traveled with all sorts of Covid precautions to UAE).

UFC 251 - UAE - July 12

Cornered Alexander Volkanovski in his second win vs Max Holloway, defended welterweight title.

Fellow CKB coaches Mike Angove and Andrei Paulet appear to have been with Bareman for the Adesanya and Hooker fights, meaning they also had to deal with all the restrictions/precautions. Volkanovski's team for his fight with Holloway had Bareman and Riddell from CKB, which amounts to a whole lot of travel and niggle for the CKB coaching staff. Remember that CKB is a functioning business as well and while it's honkidory for some to travel the world with CKB's elite fighters, the likes of Viney are ensuring that everything is kept on track back in Auckland.

To the best of my knowledge, the CKB coaching staff that is in UAE consists of...

Eugene Bareman - kaumatua.

Mike Angove - kiwi kickboxing legend.

Andrei Paulet - wrestling guru.

Tristam 'Twist' Apikotoa - striking sensei.

Those three are usually cornering the international CKB fights. Respect due to Viney and the rest of the CKB staff that I haven't mentioned as I'm merely on this journey to learn and share kiwi sporting excellence. As you can imagine, with four fighters on the same card, things get funky as the coaches have to prepare one fighter for their upcoming fight, while others corner a fighter and generally bounce all over the show.

Shane Young vs Ludovit Klein

The Vibe

Young's had a long time out of action and is a low key fascinating character, who has had to deal with a last minute change of opponent. For many this will be the first time seeing Young fight and I'm excited to see how a hefty period of training in the CKB chamber will pay off for Young.

Key Stats

Young blew away Austin Arnett in his last fight before the lengthy lay off; landing 120/308 significant strikes vs Arnett's 77/209.

That involved 19/25 kicks landed to Arnett's 2/2 kicks. Striking variety and volume as Young averages 6.10 significant strikes per minute - Adesanya averages 3.96.

A Win Would...

Put Young deeper into the mix. Still early in his UFC career and coming back from injury, Young's task is to generate momentum up the rankings.

Brad Riddell vs Alex da Silva

The Vibe

Riddell has quietly grabbed two wins in six months entering the UFC and after a brutal battle with Aussie Jamie Mullarkey, Riddell showcased his range of skills in defeating Magomed Mustafaev in Auckland. Riddell is an exciting fighter who has a splash of nutty and mix that with supreme striking for a sneaky talented UFC prospect.

Key Stats

Vs Mustafaev, Riddell dealt with 8/11 takedowns (8 successful out of 11) and Mustafaev averages 3.31 TD per 15 mins.

Riddell's opponent da Silva averages 2.59 takedowns and grabbed 3/4 takedowns in his previous win. Riddell will be tested in this department and I suspect we will see the typical CKB combo of striking precision and defensive grappling here.

A Win Would...

Emphatically place Riddell in the most slept on category of UFC fighters and there could be a decent jump up in quality of opponents.

Kai Kara-France vs Brandon Royval

The Vibe

The flyweight division is the most open of UFC divisions and Kara-France has enjoyed a steady rise through the division by going 4-1 in the UFC. Kara-France seems like one of the quiet members of CKB's UFC group and is the little brother, who appears to be the most clinical and determined.

Key Stats

Further context to Young's busy striking; Young averages 6.10 strikes landed per minute and Kara-France averages 5.27. Two little maori lads throwing down.

Kara-France could force Royval into deep waters with his striking as Royval averages just 1.93 strikes landed per minute.

Royval is in his second UFC fight, winning his first fight via submission and that came from just a single takedown attempt while his opponent lost with 4/10 takedowns. Kara-France has 90 percent takedown defence.

How Kara-France controls the fight with his striking and deals with Royval's slick grappling will a key aspect of this fight.

A Win Would...

Have Kara-France a sniff away from a contender fight and not too far off a flyweight title fight.

Israel Adesanya vs Paulo Costa

The Vibe

I've got Adesanya as the most fascinating kiwi sports star and he's coming off a win that was somewhat deflating earlier this year vs Yoel Romero, making this fight a chance for Adesanya to showcase his talents. Against Costa, Adesanya will have ample opportunity to dip into the CKB bag of tricks and the best thing about watching Adesanya fight are the fakes, faints and precision.

Key Stats

Take that Young and Kara-France striking output, then blow it up with Costa averaging 8.43 strikes landed per minute.

Costa averages no takedowns and has not registered a takedown in any of his five UFC fights, which mixed in with that bombarding striking stat makes things rather clear as to how Costa operates.

The big difference between these two is that Costa throws so many strikes, while averaging 6.84 strikes absorbed per minute and that means he throws a lot and takes a lot.

Adesanya on the other hand averages just 2.40 strikes absorbed per minute and that presents one fighter who lands a crazy amount of strikes vs one fighter who avoids strikes well.

A Win Would...

Take Adesanya's star power even deeper, reminding everyone that skill and precision beats brutality.

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Peace and love.