“I Own the Media” – Ali Abdelaziz, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Manager, Makes Disturbing Claims and Threats, Phone Call Leaked!

Supriyo Chatterji | 10/10/2022
Ali Abdelaziz

Prominent MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz has an ongoing dispute with another MMA manager.

Khabib Nurmagomedov had a stellar career in the UFC. The man behind his contract with the UFC, Ali Abdelaziz, has now had his private conversation with another MMA manager leaked online.

Abdelaziz, who is one of the most successful managers in the UFC and MMA, can be heard on the leaked audio tape saying “I own the media.”

The person Abdelaziz is talking to is Fernand Lopez, current manager of former Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Cyril Gane. He is also the former manager of former heavyweight UFC champion Francis Ngannou.

What is the Dispute Between Fernand Lopez and Ali Abdelaziz?

The dispute, which has now taken on legal dimensions, began with new UFC heavyweight fighter Slim Trablesi. Trablesi was slated to make his UFC debut against fellow UFC heavyweight Parker Porter. However, he was pulled from the fight because he had an ongoing contract with Lopez’ French promotion Ares FC.

Lopez did not want to release the fighter so UFC had to cancel Trablesi’s contract.

Lopez has now released a phone call he had with Abdelaziz and claimed he is trying to steal his fighters. He also said Abdelaziz has made physical threats to him.

The conversation goes as follows. Lopez says

“I been block medias, tons and tons of media.”

Abdelaziz responds

“Brother brother you don’t have…France don’t have sh*t brother. I f*cking own the media.”

The tape continues with the two arguing about leaking the story to media outlets and taking the conversation to other places.

In response to this leak, Abdelaziz has also put out a text message where he berates Lopez for ruining the young fighter’s career. Abdelaziz says Lopez is blackmailing Trablesi to stay with his promotion. He also states he will spend the money needed to fight for Trablesi and he now believes what he heard of Lopez from Ngannou.

Ali Abdelaziz has strong ties with the UFC and other major promotions. He has been behind major UFC title holders and contenders like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Geathje, Kamaru Usman and others.

Click here for more MMA News

Post Edited By: Archie Blade
Ali Abdelaziz Cyril Gane Fernand Lopez Francis Ngannou Khabib Nurmagomedov Slim Trablesi

About the author

Supriyo Chatterji

Supriyo Chatterji is a UFC author at The SportsRush. He has been involved with UFC and MMA for over a decade. He started off as a fan and joined up with the Sports Rush in 2022. He also practices MMA and has a keen interest in combat/contact sports in general. He personally thinks Anderson Silva, Fedor Emilianenko, and Robbie Lawler are the GOATS of MMA. Supriyo also likes Joe Rogan and frequently watches JRE. He is also an avid gamer and plans to develop an Indie video game sometime in the future.

Don’t miss these