Photo by Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic
Ali Abdelaziz shared a photo of himself in the cage after PFL 10
It was a surprise to see MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz tweet a photo of himself, with what appear to be event credentials around his neck, inside the PFL cage with four freshly crowned PFL champions. The reason for that shock was that the PFL had banned Abdelaziz, who is the president and founder of Dominance MMA Management, from PFL events pending the resolution of two battery cases.
5 champions in one night. I’m more than greatful to be a part of this. pic.twitter.com/aAXmaVudur
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) January 1, 2020
One of those cases, a misdemeanor battery charge, was dismissed on November 25 according to online court records. That charge was tied to the scuffle Abdelaziz had with UFC fighter Colby Covington in a buffet line after Dominance fighter Kamaru Usman defeated Tyron Woodley for the welterweight title in March.
The second misdemeanor battery charge against Abdelaziz remains open.
That charge stems from an incident in October at PFL 7. During that event, Abdelaziz reportedly struck fellow manager Abe Kawa of First Round Management in the face with a closed fist.
According to the police report, which MMA Junkie obtained:
Kawa stated while in the VIP area Aziz approached him stated he needed to speak with him and subsequently struck him in the face with a closed fist on the right side of his face for no reason. Once struck Officers and Mandalay Security immediately responded, and separated both parties. Sgt. Aguirre and Sgt Lorsen observed the incident in its entirety.
In October, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto reported he had received the following statement from the PFL:
“At league direction, Ali Abdelaziz will not be attending upcoming postseason events. Given the fact this is a legal matter, the league has no further comment at this time.”
In the same story, Okamoto spoke to Abdelaziz about the ban ahead of the PFL 8 event, which took place on October 17 at Mandalay Bay Arena.
“I spoke to PFL executives earlier this week and I don’t want this story to be about me,” Abdelaziz said. “The focus should be on my athletes in the PFL. I have 10 athletes fighting on Thursday and we made sure everybody made weight and has everything they need. I continue to support my athletes.”
According to online records Bloody Elbow has obtained, Abdelaziz is due to answer to that charge on January 9 in Las Vegas.
With one battery case against Abdelaziz still pending, the assumption was that the manager would still be banned from the final fight card of the PFL’s second season. From all appearances that ban was not enforced at PFL 10, which took place on December 31 at Hulu Theater at Madison Square Garden.
Bloody Elbow reached out to the PFL about the status of Abdelaziz’s ban from PFL post-season events, but we have not heard back from the promotion at the time of publication.
