Coach Bareman Admits He Didn't Watch Volkanovski vs. Makhachev 2: 'I Was Too Scared Of What Could Happen...'

City Kickboxing coach Eugene Bareman couldn't watch Alexander Volkanovski's short-notice rematch with Islam Makhachev at UFC 294 out of fear for how it would play out.

Volkanovski is just over a week away from his return to action in Anaheim, where he'll look to successfully defend his featherweight title for the sixth time at the expense of Ilia Topuria in the UFC 298 main event.

By continuing his reign, the Australian will be hoping to bounce back from a difficult 2023, during which he fell short of the lightweight gold on two occasions opposite reigning champ Islam Makhachev.

While their first scrap was a tight contest in Perth last February, the rematch eight months later was far from close, with the Dagestani knocking Volkanovski out inside one round.

"Alexander the Great" accepted the second dance on less than two weeks' notice after Charles Oliveira withdrew from the Abu Dhabi event owing to a cut suffered in training.

The decision to accept the assignment caused discussion, and one of Volkanovski's coaches recently revealed his stern opposition to it. And his thoughts on the rematch were evidently so strong that he couldn't even lay eyes on it come fight night...

Bareman Anticipated Disastrous End To Volkanovski's Late-Notice Makhachev Rematch

During an interview with She Loves The Gloves for europop, City Kickboxing founder Eugene Bareman bared his thoughts on Volkanovski's setback in the Middle East last October.

Although Volkanovski completes much of his training at Freestyle MMA in Australia, Bareman is utilized for game-planning and is usually in the featherweight kingpin's corner.

That wasn't the case at UFC 294, though, with Bareman unable to cancel other commitments to make the trip to Abu Dhabi. As it turns out, it wasn't just a front-row seat that the New Zealand-based coach missed — he didn't see the fight at all.

"Realistically, we (didn't) have much of a chance. But if the UFC offers you, say, this, this, or this — sure, think about it and maybe we can figure something out," Bareman said. "I’ll watch the tape and design the game plan that would give us the best chance of getting the win. And so that’s what happened. The UFC came back with a good offer and he agreed.

"But I didn’t even have the time to get to Abu Dhabi and corner him. It all happened so fast, I had prior commitments that I couldn’t just cancel. I didn’t even watch the fight — I was too scared of what could happen," Bareman continued. "I had a feeling it could be something like this (KO). I obviously didn’t want to be right, but unfortunately, I was."

Bareman's worst fears did indeed reach reality, with Volkanovski falling to his first stoppage loss on MMA's biggest stage at the hands of Makhachev.

With two-division ambitions off the table for the time being, Volkanovski will hope to resume his dominance over the 145-pound landscape by stalling the charge of undefeated challenger Topuria on February 17 at the Honda Center.