The American Kickboxing Academy headed by Javier Mendez is a hotbed for talent in the UFC. Multiple champions have come out of the gym including Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and Islam Makhachev. While the success of the gym is dependent on the coaches and fighters, Mendez also credits manager Ali Abdelaziz.
Mendez in a recent interview, named Ali Abdelaziz as a vital cog in the machine and explained why his fighters were so loyal to him. While speaking to ‘Submission Radio’ Mendez revealed what impressed him the most about Abdelaziz. He said,
“When you have a great team like I believe I have, with a great core of people, it’s pretty amazing what you can get done. Ali for instance, he is such a great manager and human being. The guy comes all the way to New Jersey, he spends time with us and takes care of us, does the practices and training. He even becomes a sparring partner if he needs to. I am so impressed with him as a human being.”
Mendez went on to add that despite living in Las Vegas, Abdelaziz has flown to New Jersey multiple times to train with Islam Makhachev as he prepares for his third title defense. He went on to add that Abdelaziz takes extremely good care of all of his fighters, which would explain their loyalty.
It also helps that Abdelaziz’s fighters end up becoming world champions. Case in point, Islam Makhachev, who will be taking on Dustin Poirier at UFC 302.
A closer look at Islam Makhachev vs Dustin Poirier
For coaches at AKA, Poirier is a familiar foe. ‘The Eagle’ has already beaten Poirier in a close fight at UFC 242. Poirier in fact was the closest to making Khabib tap out and end his streak. Unfortunately, that guillotine couldn’t stay on longer.
Makhachev later revealed that Khabib had spoken about intentionally giving The Diamond his neck to tire him out. However, he has also talked about having something special in store for the fight making his win more impressive than Khabib’s.
View this post on Instagram
In addition to this, Makhachev also stated that he does not believe Poirier poses any significant threats that he has not seen before. For Poirier, this will most likely be his third and final shot at a UFC title. Therefore, he will be pulling out all the stops to ensure he is as prepared as possible to finally finish his story.
