“But I mean it’s as easy and plain and simple as this, he’s not a fighter, he’s a manager.”
Renowned manager Ali Abdelaziz seems to crave the media attention more than his own stable of fighters, as the Dominance MMA founder has made a name for himself as one of the most controversial figures in the sport.
Just a couple of months ago, Abdelaziz found himself in the middle of a scrap between top welterweights Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington at a Las Vegas buffet, and the promoter appeared to be the main antagonist in the exchange.
His outlandish antics and continuous trolling on social media hasn’t exactly gone down well with the rest of the UFC roster, and the way top lightweight contender Tony Ferguson sees it, the MMA promoter is no more than a ‘Twitter warrior.’
“That’s a Twitter warrior,” Ferguson said of Abdelaziz (audio transcribed by MMAFighting.com). “I get it. I have gif wars, he wants to go gif wars I’ll destroy him all day. But I mean it’s as easy and plain and simple as this, he’s not a fighter, he’s a manager.
“He’s a disappointment to the fans, to my fans, and to the real fans, to the hardcore—I call my fans the hardcore base, that’s the crew,” Ferguson said. “So you hear all those guys saying, ‘champ sh*t only,’ that’s hardcore. Those are the real fans. Those guys pay the money for the pay-per-views. And the guys like Ali, those are guys that f*cking stream that sh*t.”
Ferguson, who is making final preparations for his highly anticipated lightweight bout against Donald Cerrone at UFC 238, will look to challenge the winner of the upcoming title unification between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Dustin Poirier at UFC 242. Khabib, the reigning and undefeated lightweight champ, is one of Abdelaziz’s most prized clients.
UFC 238, which will see Ferguson take on Cerrone on the main card, takes place this Saturday, June 8 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
