The world of mixed martial arts is very specific. People running the business behind the scenes are often flying under the radar. This is the case with Dana White’s likely successor Hunter Campbell – and it’s also the case with mega manager Ali Abdelaziz.
Ali Abdelaziz represents roughly 40% of UFC roster and has repeatedly managed one or both athletes headlining UFC cards. Abdelaziz is also infamous due to his criminal history.
Just got Ali Abdelaziz's rap sheet from 2000-2004. No way NSAC did an FBI fingerprint check on him. Charges include counterfeiting, forgery, criminal impersonation, check & credit card fraud, assault (felony x2, aggravated x1, simple x2) burglary, auto theft, fraud & harassment.
— Mike Russell 🕵️ (@MIKERUSSELLMMA) March 7, 2018
Not to mention that he was once both manager and a part of the team that ran WSOF – now rebranded to PFL. Abdelaziz had since resigned the position he had in the organization but is still rumored to have back end ties to the management.
A throwback video of Kamaru Usman and Ali Abdelaziz in an altercation with spectators backstage at a PFL event was recently shared online.
During a PFL event at Madison Square Garden in New York City in 2018, Kamaru Usman and Ali Abdelaziz took part in an altercation. In other videos of the incident, Usman is shown pushing a fan after the fan shoved him back. As Abdelaziz attempted to approach Usman, the other event goers grabbed hold of him, which caused the situation to worsen.
However, the chaos was immediately stopped by what looked to be police involvement. The footage doesn’t clearly show what caused the incident.
After his 2018 PFL altercation, Kamaru Usman later appeared on The MMA Hour to provide his side of the story. Usman said that as the national anthem began to play, he and Ali Abdelaziz exited the auditorium to grab some water.
When someone who looked to be kneeling started yelling at them, Usman and Abdelaziz waited for the song to conclude before entering once again. His repeated efforts to defuse the situation were greeted with crude comments.
Usman said:
” I’m like, ‘Back up, you’re in my space.’ And the guy goes, ‘You ain’t going to do nothing, what do you think? You’re f’ing tough?’ I think he’s going to swing on me because he’s more and more aggressive so I push him off me and I’m like, ‘Bro, back up.’”
Things escalated quickly as Usman and Abdelaziz got jumped on and the future UFC champ couldn’t believe the absolute bizarreness of the situation.
Usman further added:
“I turn around for us to leave and all of a sudden while my back is turned, I get hit in the back. Boom. Then it’s like three of them jump on Ali and then three of them jump on me and now it’s like I gotta defend myself.”
“I’m in self defense mode and I’m trying to draw one guy off me and it’s all just a crazy commotion, guys are trying to jump on — and the whole time, I couldn’t believe the situation was happening.”