Israel Adesanya departs City Kickboxing after 17 years

Israel Adesanya dropped some big news on his YouTube channel, Freestylebender, on Friday afternoon.

The former UFC middleweight champion announced he has left City Kickboxing (CKB), the gym he first linked up with in 2009.

"So, Wednesday 20th May, I spoke to Eugene [Bareman, City Kickboxing trainer] face to face and I told him I am not coming back to CKB," Adesanya said on his channel.

"This was something a long time coming behind the scenes and we have an understanding.

"I just want to get it out the way just because I want you to hear it from the horse's mouth because no one else has spoken about it.

"It's bittersweet, but it's the right thing for me, you know, especially where I'm at in my career. It's exactly what I needed."

The 36-year-old's career has been stunning at CKB, with the pinnacle being twice crowned UFC middleweight champion.

He helped put CKB on the map, which has since trained several competitive UFC fighters, all under the watch of Bareman.

But things haven't gone well for Adensanya of late, having lost his last four fights in a row, and he's hinted he needed a change.

"Insanity is doing the same s**t and expecting a different result, you know, so I think that's it," he said.

Adesanya paid tribute to CKB.

"They've trained a lot of great fighters, even better than myself.

"CKB made me into the fighter that I am today," he said.