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Eugene Bareman: Stranded UFC fighters 'livid' but making most of bad situation

November 10, 2020

Israel Adesanya, Brad Riddell and Carlos Ulberg aren't allowed to enter NZ's managed isolation system until December 15.

City Kickboxing founder and head trainer Eugene Bareman said while Israel Adesanya, Brad Riddell and Carlos Ulberg are fuming about being stranded in the US, they're not going to spend the time wallowing in their anger.

City Kickboxing revealed this morning the trio, who flew to Las Vegas for Ulberg's successful bid in earning a UFC contract, are now "stranded" there because they were unable to get a voucher allowing them to enter NZ's managed isolation system until December 15. 

Bareman told media the fighters didn't take the news well.

"I can't lie to you guys, they're absolutely livid," Bareman said.

"They're absolutely gutted and our first concern is their mental health and wellbeing and trying to get them in the right frame of mind - especially Brad who has a pregnant wife."

Bareman said while the trio were preparing for Ulberg's fight, with Adesanya and Riddell in Las Vegas serving as rookie fighter's cornermen, they didn't know about their situation. After the fight they were informed but Bareman said they also gave the fighters some perspective too.

"[It was about] really understanding the broader picture and making them understand there's people in much dire situations than them.

"That kind of helps them move on and frame it in their mind a bit different."

They had been due to return to New Zealand yesterday. 

With that said, Bareman revealed the trio are now flying down to San Diego to work out at Atos Jiu Jutsu - a gym that specialises in the Brazilian martial art - for the time being.

"They're probably the most successful Jiu Jitsu club in the world at the moment," Bareman said.

"We have an affiliation with them so we reached out and they said they were happy to accomodate the boys and look after them.

"They have a very safe training environment to make sure Covid-19 doesn't seep in."

Away from the gym, Bareman said the trio will follow protocols to keep themselves self.

"We've talked about restricting our movements in terms of the hotel and the gym, very similar to the UFC.

"When they need food, they either bring the food in through Uber Eats or they send a designated person to go and get the food and they take all the measures while they're out in public to be safe.

"We're taking as many measures as we can."

MIQ responds:

"On 3 November using the online Managed Isolation Allocation System (MIAS) to secure a place in managed isolation before coming to New Zealand became compulsory. MIAS helps us manage the timing of people entering New Zealand so we can guarantee their place in a managed isolation facility, which is necessary to keep them and all New Zealanders safe. Everyone arriving in New Zealand is now required to present a voucher to airlines in order to board their flight, or have a special exemption from using the system.

"We’ve worked hard to ensure those travelling knew they needed to book a space in managed isolation and airlines have also been providing this information to their passengers. Thousands of people with existing airline bookings booked their vouchers in the first hours that the Managed Isolation Allocation System went live in the beginning of October. An extensive awareness campaign has been underway since September. This has resulted in people from 212 different countries accessing our Managed Isolation Allocation System website. Since the campaign started on 25 September around 95% of passengers arriving at airports have had a voucher.

"Most airfares are fully flexi. However, it is each individual’s responsibility to make sure they hold a voucher for MIQ, as they are legally required to do.

"We currently have a spike in the number of people in Managed Isolation facilities and there is very limited availability for the rest of the year. A small number of places do become available from time to time if people cancel their vouchers so we recommend people check in regularly to see if space has opened up on their preferred dates."

The reality is that there is finite capacity within the MIQ system. New Zealanders can still come home but possibly not on the dates they would prefer. People wanting to come home in the lead up to Christmas holiday period may not be able to come home on their preferred dates due to the high demand, but it’s important that everyone is treated equally. We’re asking people to be flexible over the period leading into our summer holidays and if there are no available places in managed isolation on their preferred date, to check and see if there are any places available on another nearby date.

Managed Isolation and Quarantine will not grant returning New Zealanders a voucher just because of who they are or what they do. Everyone is treated equally – that’s fundamental to the system. We need to ensure that there is fair and open access to all New Zealanders returning home.

There is a very restrictive emergency allocation criteria. This is a last resort option and the threshold is extremely high. To apply, you must be a NZ citizen or resident-class visa holder without a voucher who has an imminent threat to your life or serious risk to health, which requires urgent travel to New Zealand. We expect that very few approvals would be granted, and it is important to note that people still need to complete their 14 days Managed Isolation." 

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