“Stop Hijacking”: Ali Abdelaziz Accused of Orchestrating Islam Makhachev vs. Ilia Topuria Trash-talking Feud

There has been a long-standing accusation against Ali Abdelaziz that he takes over and posts from social media accounts of the fighters he manages. Magomed Ankalaev has even publicly stated this.

So whenever any fighter who Ali manages posts, fans know, and liberally speculate too, that it’s Ali. And that’s what played out on X when Islam Makhachev’s account posted a long message, calling out Ilia Topuria for being a “nobody”.

“[The] difference between me and you, that I cleaned [the] top list in my division, moved to [the] next, but you ran away from two contenders who had consecutive 5-9 wins in [the] FW [featherweight] division. You are nobody in LW [lightweight] division, just a big mouth from Spain with nice haircut. Go get one W [win], and we can talk boy,” read the post.

When fans saw words like “consecutive” in the post, while there was no mention of grappling, they knew this was Abdelaziz and not Islam who composed the post. Needless to say, many called Ali out for this annoying habit.

Fans on Reddit criticized the manager for interfering in his fighters’ personal space. “Ali Bratha… Stop hijacking their accounts,” one fan commented.

Another user called out Ali’s fighters for all having the same personality on X. “Ali is so cringe, all his fighters talk the same way on Twitter.”

One fan claimed that Makhachev would never use the word consecutive. “Islam did not tweet out the word consecutive. I don’t think he’s ever said it, let alone spelled it lol,” they wrote.

Many couldn’t help but poke fun at the “nice haircut” comment in the post. “‘Nice haircut’ is definitely Ali because he’s bald and jealous,” wrote a fan. “Classic big bald Ali punching air over others having hair,” commented another.

Fans seemed convinced that it’s Ali who is running the social media game for Islam, and not the fighter. But it all began with the Spaniard starting the trash-talking. So even if it was Abdelaziz who composed the post, he was only responding to what El Matador’s original salvo.

Topuria says Charles Oliveira will have to pay for Islam

Following the announcement of the UFC 317 main event between Topuia and Charles Oliveira, the Spaniard sat down to answer the media’s questions. However, right in his opening statement, he made sure to call out Makhachev for running away from him.

Topuria vacated his featherweight title, hoping that he would get an immediate title shot at 155. But now that Islam is moving up in weight to fight for the welterweight title, Topuria has to fight the #1 contender in the division instead.

“I’d like to thank Charles for accepting the challenge. Something Islam didn’t do, and he has to pay the price for Islam,” the Spaniard stated.

He followed this up by responding to Makhachev’s post. “The difference between you and me is that I am a man and you are a coward. I speak and fight. You talk and hide. Run away far, leaving no trace,” wrote Topuria.

The Spaniard’s confidence has paid off in his UFC career so far. And he certainly is not backing out of any feud with Makhachev. However, on June 28, fans will witness whether he can continue his run of form in the lightweight division.