With the fighters clashing against each other, it is also a showdown between their gyms. On March 14, one such tussle between two of the most decorated MMA gyms went down. A fighter representing Charles Oliveira‘s Chute Boxe and one of Israel Adesanya’s City Kickboxing teammates fought.

The bout was promoted by the Stealth Fighters League (SFL) this past Saturday. And that is when Elano Andrade of Chute Boxe and Mike Mathetha, also known as ‘Blood Diamond,’ from City Kickboxing, went against each other. And in a highlight reel moment, Mathetha flatlined Andrade with a left hook.

Since then, the sequence of the action has seemingly gone viral. ‘Blood Diamond’ caught Andrade mid-air when the Brazilian was trying to land a flying knee. And as soon as the hook connected, no follow-ups were needed as the referee intervened to stop the fight. While the fighters representing a popular gym are an interesting tale, what is more intriguing here is Mathetha’s MMA history.

Notably, ‘Blood Diamond’ was a part of the UFC. Israel Adesanya and City Kickboxing were the pillars who honed and supported the Kiwi fighter to reach that stage. However, contrary to expectations, Mathetha failed terribly, losing all three fights under the UFC banner.

And for that, the leading MMA promotion released him from the roster. Following that, he started making appearances in the regional circuit fights. In 2026, the fight at SFL 4 was his first appearance, and he did not fail to impress. Standing in front of him was a fighter representing a gym that has produced legends like Charles Oliveira and Wanderlei Silva.

28-year-old Andrade boasted a record of 9-5 before facing the 37-year-old ‘Blood Diamond.’ The Brazilian started off his MMA career in 2016 with a six-fight winning streak. But soon after, his career graph was marked by ups and downs. And against Mathetha at SFL 4 in Auckland, Andrade suffered the sixth defeat of his career.

As for ‘Blood Diamond,’ this is surely a chance for the former UFC fighter to regain momentum in his MMA career. Having said that, how did a promising fighter of his stature fail in the leading MMA promotion? To that end, even his coach was shocked to see Mathetha’s UFC performance.

When Israel Adesanya’s coach expressed disappointment with ‘Blood Diamond’s’ UFC debut performance

Boasting a record of 3-0 at that time, Mike Mathetha joined the world’s leading MMA promotion. And in his debut, Mathetha faced Jeremiah Wells at UFC 271. The expectations were high. But ‘Blood Diamond’ struggled to counter Wells’ Jiu-Jitsu prowess as he suffered a rear-naked submission to lose the fight. Watching that, his coach Eugene Bareman appeared disappointed.

“I’m very, very, very, disappointed,” said Bareman in an interview with MMA Fighting. “And ‘Blood’ is even more disappointed. It’s been a very emotional couple of days for ‘Blood Diamond’. When you lose like that, and I’ve had a few fighters who have lost like that. Dan Hooker has lost like that, when you just get caught early, and you don’t get a chance to show the people and the world what you’re capable of. It’s heart-wrenching, it’s really heart-wrenching.

But look, that sometimes happens, and we all know ‘Blood Diamond’ is a world-class fighter. A similar thing happened to [Carlos] Ulberg; he just has to come back and prove it. He has to prove it to the world, he has to prove it to the UFC, and he has to prove it to Sean Shelby that he deserves to be where he is.”

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Fast forward to Mathetha’s performance last night, surely it must have impressed his and Israel Adesanya‘s coach, Bareman. On that note, do you think that at 37 years of age, ‘Blood Diamond’ will continue to put out such a fighting display? Let us know in the comments below!