Islam Makhachev against Conor McGregor would be easy money for the champion, according to Ali Abdelaziz. Abdelaziz is the long-time manager of Khabib Nurmagomedov and now also manages Makhachev. Nurmagomedov’s entire team has a vendetta against ‘The Notorious’. And this relationship is all a result of the immense trash-talking done by the pair leading up to their UFC 229 fight. The rivalry is for life now.
Islam Makhachev will take on Dustin Poirier next in what will be his first title defense against a lightweight contender. However, if it was up to Abdelaziz, he would be taking on the easier fight.
The manager of Team Khabib Nurmagomedov recently sat down to film an interview for the ‘Show Me the Money’ podcast on YouTube. The host asked him if he would advise Makhachev to defend his title against a contender or take the McGregor fight. He replied, saying,
“Like Conor McGregor right now? He takes the easy money, Conor McGregor.”
Ali Abdelaziz claims Conor McGregor has been sitting out of the octagon for almost three years now. His time out of the octagon must have hindered some of his sharpness inside the cage.
On the flip side, in those three years, the fighters in the lightweight division have gained more experience and evolved. So compared to them, the Irishman does seem like a walk in the park for Makhachev.
Shifting away from the topic of Conor McGregor, Abdelaziz then went on to talk about how he managed to secure a $500,000 payday for Justin Gaethje once.
Ali Abdelaziz brags about securing a staggering amount for his fighter
Ali Abdelaziz is also the manager of UFC lightweight Justin Gaethje, along with Islam Makhachev, even though the pair fight in the same division.
In the same ‘Show Me the Money’ podcast interview, Abdelaziz spoke about how he negotiated a $500,000 purse for Justin Gaethje. He said,
“And I thought Justin deserves $500,000….I was like hey you guys cheap, I got so mad…I got a $150,0000….dropped it at the front desk at UFC security…Hunter calls me and tells me you’re f*cking crazy come get your money.”
Ali Abdelaziz is a MASTER negotiator!
Special Episode coming out tomorrow at 6PM EST! pic.twitter.com/FiYaqFBl9I
— Show Me the Money Podcast (@showmethepod) April 23, 2024
According to Team Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager, the UFC only wanted to pay $350,000. So Ali Abdelaziz put up the $150,000 from his own money for the fight.
This tactic seemed to work in his favor as the UFC ended up returning him the money and even paying Gaethje $500,000. Thus, it is evident that Abdelaziz is one of the most efficient managers in the promotion at the moment. It now remains to be seen whether he can secure a big purse for Islam Makhachev at UFC 302.
