During his appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show, UFC middleweight contender Sean Strickland unloaded on two prominent figures: MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz and FBI Director Kash Patel.
Strickland did not hold back when it came to Patel, saying: “I h*te Kash Patel so much. Kash Patel to me is like the weakest man in the world. You look at Kash Patel and you’re like, ‘Dude, you were as weak as dirt. I cannot stand him.'”
What set Strickland off was the reported connection between Patel and Abdelaziz, one of the UFC’s most powerful managers. Strickland pulled from what he described as a published book that won a notable award in New York, framing his claims as factual rather than speculation.
According to Strickland, shortly after 9/11, Abdelaziz was arrested with multiple passports or fake documentation and faced felony charges related to falsifying information. He was held in a Colorado lockup, where Strickland says the FBI approached him and brought him on as a paid informant.
“They had his informant number. They have him as a high-paid informant, spying on some Muslim Brotherhood organizations,” Strickland said.
Strickland added that Abdelaziz earned the nickname “the dolphin” among those who worked with him because he talked so much. When the FBI grew suspicious that he was providing inaccurate information, they administered a lie detector test. He failed. Strickland says Abdelaziz was then released but barred from re-entering the country if he left.
The piece that appeared to bother Strickland most was Abdelaziz’s reported close relationship with Patel.
“He’s best friends with Kash Patel. Best friends,” Strickland said. “And I’m sure he goes to Kash Patel like, ‘Hey brother, you want to go meet Khabib? You want to go meet Justin Gaethje?'”
Strickland was careful to frame his claims around the source material. “Don’t sue me. This is what I know and this is what the book says,” he told host Shawn Ryan.
The topic came up after Strickland noticed photos of UFC starsspending time with FBI agents, which led him to look more closely at Abdelaziz’s reported background.
“All these UFC athletes went and hung out with a bunch of FBI agents. I’m like, why didn’t you call me guys? I love law enforcement,” Strickland said. “And I started looking at Ali and all these pictures.”
For Strickland, the combination of Abdelaziz’s alleged history as a federal informant, his reported failed polygraph, and his close friendship with the sitting FBI director painted a picture he found hard to look past.
