The secret to growing a world class stable of fighters in a solitary New Zealand gym might surprise you.
City Kickboxing has become one of the of the world's most successful combat sports teams. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/Photosport
Tucked away down a sidestreet in a central Auckland suburb, City Kickboxing has steadily become one of the most successful combat sports teams anywhere on the planet.
CKB, as it's otherwise known, is best recognised as the training ground for the reigning Halberg Sportsman of the Year, MMA star and UFC middleweight world champion Israel Adesanya.
However, the gym also boasts four other Kiwi UFC fighters among it's ranks and is a key part in the success of UFC featherweight world champion, Australian Alex Volkanovski.
Those stars of the CKB roster will tell you several more of their team-mates are on the verge of joining them.
One of the gym's co-founders, and head coach to many of its elite athletes, Eugene Bareman believed their success actually has nothing to do with a focus on fighting, in the general sense of the word.
"We didn't open up a gym to teach people how to fight," Bareman told RNZ's Nine to Noon programme this week.
"We opened up a gym to teach people a martial art, and all the values associated with a martial art and today's modern form of MMA, what you see on TV, people sometimes don't distinguish between those two things.
"This is actually just a martial art. It's been packaged up and commercially driven towards being a fist fight but it's not this is a martial art. This is a well disciplined sport, that you have to put a lot of decent dedication and commitment towards.
"That's the message that we pushed and when a lot of guys came in, they understood this sport was all about strategy, tactics, the way you apply yourself, dedication and commitment.
"Pushing those values, instead of pushing other aspects of the sport that are a little bit more popular, that's what has helped us tremendously."
Kiwi UFC fighters Kai Kara-France, left, and Shane Young. Photo: Photosport
The approach has led to more than just big wins and world titles.
Combat sports have long been credited with an ability to teach more than just skills to be used in a fight.
Bareman said that was no different at CKB, where they were doing their best to build young people into well-rounded, respectful adults.
"This is 100 per cent what the sport is. It's something, and this probably speaks to society a little bit more, but it's something that [since] I've opened this gym, I'm having to do increasingly with the young people now.
"Having to build them into just good, honest people with good ethics that know how to work hard, know how to make a commitment, know how to show up on time, know how to act around young people, know how to act around woman.
"Developing these young guys and girls as people is one of the primary purposes of the gym, in my opinion."
A purpose that is clearly evident in Bareman's star pupil.
Since Adesanya made his UFC debut in early 2018, his ascension has been rapid.
The Nigerian-born Kiwi rose to claim the undisputed title in less than two years, and has gone on to twice defend that mantle.
The second of those defences, a masterful performance which led to a second round TKO of previous undefeated Brazilian behemoth Paulo Costa last month, has cemented his place as one of the sport's biggest stars.
And although Adesanya's confident and outspoken nature wasn't everyone's cup of tea, Bareman said that public persona didn't tell the whole story.
"The part that I gravitate towards, the part that I appreciate is the other side of it. It's when he's away from the cameras, away from the action.
"What you see there is, and this is an overused word nowadays, but what you see is a humbleness that completely contrasts the side of Israel that you see in front of the camera.
Eugene Bareman and Israel Adesanya at the 2019 Halberg Sports Awards. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"That's the side that I like, that's the side that makes him a special member of the team, that's the side that has all the other fighters - the younger fighters and the older fighters - gravitating towards him.
"He's a person that has a truly open heart and a person that's always willing to put his foot forward to help other people and contribute to other people. That's the side that I'm most proud of when it comes to Israel."
But the success on the world stage is nice, too, and in Abu Dhabi last month, CKB reached a new high point in that respect.
Adesanya's team-mates Kai Kara-France, Brad Riddell and Shane Young were also part of UFC 253, meaning the Auckland gym featured on more than a third of the event's entire card.
Thrown in Volkanovski and lightweight contender Dan Hooker, ranked fourth in the UFC's most star-studded division, and it's hard to overstate what is being achieved.
He's adamant there is more to come, but Eugene Bareman knows City Kickboxing has already come a long, long way.
"There's some things here that will be hard for anybody from any country at any level to repeat, I can say that pretty confidently.
"We're making history and we've done it a multitude of times with events and records and achievements, so we're tremendously proud of that.
"To have four guys from one country filling up a third of the card is something that countries with much bigger populations and much stronger footholds in this sport cannot do.
"For the UFC, the biggest combat sports organisation in the world, to put that sort of faith in us, that we can headline a card and be the majority of a card, that says a lot about where we're going and where we are right now."