NZ-trained UFC star reflects as milestone looms

By Christopher Reive

When UFC welterweight Kevin Jousset relocated to the southern hemisphere in 2016, mixed martial arts was illegal in his home nation of France.

Now training out of Auckland’s City Kickboxing gym, the 31-year-old will return home on a business trip.

Jousset (10-2) will square off against fellow surging welterweight prospect Bryan Battle (10-2) when the UFC visits Paris on September 29. For Jousset, the booking shows the snowball effect a series of decisions can have.

Jousset didn’t start training in MMA until he arrived in Australia, then shifted to New Zealand in January 2020 - the same year the sport became legal in France - to join City Kickboxing as he tried to turn his relatively newfound passion into a career.

“I didn’t know much about the sport still at this time, but I came here first as a training camp and met everyone and felt very comfortable, and I realised I was definitely not as good as what I wanted to be,” Jousset said.

“Many guys were better than me at this time, so I moved to the only place where I could get my ass kicked, because that’s how you get better.

“I don’t regret a thing. I’m very glad I’ve done it. It obviously took a lot of sacrifices on the other hand, but it’s okay, that’s how life works. You need to sacrifice some things to get some better things.”

Working with head coach Eugene Bareman and the team at City Kickboxing proved to be a great decision for Jousset’s career, as he was signed to the world’s top MMA promotion, the UFC, in 2023.

He hasn’t wasted any time in catching the attention of fans inside the octagon, either. In his debut last September, he won via submission with a rear naked choke in the first round against fellow UFC newcomer Kiefer Crosbie.

He got straight back to work afterwards, with a clinical striking display against UFC veteran Song Kenan in December seeing him take a lopsided decision.

Fighting in France was always on his radar once the UFC announced they would be returning there, but looking to keep his momentum building, Jousset signed on for a fight in May – only to have his opponent pull out after Jousset had already travelled to the US and weighed in.

It was a frustrating turn of events, and frustration appears to be a theme of his next bout with Battle’s most recent outing also coming to a peculiar end.

Battle last fought in March where his fight against Ange Loosa was stopped in the second round and ruled a no-contest after Loosa appeared to take a thumb to the eye. Battle had been dominating the fight and felt Loosa was looking for a way out, and why he let his feelings known, Loosa appeared ready to fight again. Battle didn’t hold anything back in his post-fight interview when discussing how it ended.

In Battle, Jousset gets the biggest test of his UFC career. Excluding the no-contest, Battle is 5-1 in the UFC, with his three most recent wins all coming by finish - two of those being knockout victories within the first minute of the bout.

“Having a good opponent, a bigger name, for my first time in France is a great thing,” Jousset said.

“My goal is to fight the best guys in the world already. He’s just another guy; hopefully we get the win and we keep beating better and better guys.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission