Breakdown Of Recent Ali Abdelaziz Interview
Or How About Fighting For Change?
Welcome to the latest C’mon Now newsletter. This is the place where I’ll share my thoughts on all the goings-on in MMA. Those thoughts could range from media criticism to advice for folks looking to get into MMA writing to why certain fighters or managers are not good for the sport.
Today I discuss the recent interview Ali Abdelaziz did with MMA Fighting.
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One thing I often wonder is why MMA fighters have managers. The way contracts work and how deals come together, especially in the UFC, the biggest task a manger has, seems to be to land and maintain sponsorship deals so a fighter is not reliant upon just their UFC income. Sure, a manager can assist with coordination of fight related tasks and things like that, but is that help worth 10 percent (or more) of a fighter’s usually paltry income?
One particular MMA manager often leaves me scratching my head in disbelief. That manager is Ali Abdelaziz.
Abdelaziz once again left me stunned when he spoke to MMA Fighting on Wednesday.
Let me break down some of his quotes during that interview, which mostly focused on UFC 249.
AA: I think the UFC or any other promotion who has fighters under contract, they have to find a solution. Because these guys, the fighters, are independent contractors. They do not get a salary. Some of these guys make $10k and $10k, $12k and $12k, $15k and $15k and they live paycheck to paycheck. This is how they make money and this has been going on for 20 years.
TR: As a fighter representative, Abdelaziz should fight tooth and nail to get rid of the old way of doing things. There is no reason UFC fighters should only bet paid when they fight. The training for the fight is their biggest job, but if a card falls through the day they complete a training camp, well, tough shit. That money is lost. That is insane. The UFC should provide fighters with a yearly stipend for their training on top of a payday on fight night. That’s something Abdelaziz should point out. Instead, he shrugs his shoulders and says the status quo is good for these fighters.
AA: For you as a media member to criticize or a coach or a fighter, whoever you are, if you’re a fighter and don’t want to fight, that’s fine. Don’t fight. If the UFC is willing and Dana White is willing to put his reputation and money and getting potentially fucking sued, put that on the line and put on a fight and the fighters are willing to fight, I don’t think anybody has the fucking right to tell them not to put on the fight.
TR: Are you kidding me? I don’t care about Dana White’s reputation right now. Nor do I care if a fighter is willing to compete during a global pandemic. Neither of those things should be in the discussion. For the safety of everyone, no fights should take place until the pandemic is under control and the number of cases takes a nosedive. Everyone who cares about the spread of COVID-19 has the fucking right to tell White and the fighters they shouldn’t compete right now. I don’t care what anyone does to themselves, but when their decisions affect others, that’s where the line needs to be drawn.
AA: Dana White reached out to me and said "if any of your fighters need money to support their families, reach out to me, and they don’t have to fight if they don’t want to”. For me, that means a lot. I want to go ahead and say that because that’s the truth. He didn’t have to say that.
He’s telling me if any of my fighters need money, reach out to him. I haven’t yet but I’m sure I will.
TR: I implore Abdelaziz to do this. I hope every fighter reaches out to White for help. And when they get a reply, they should let everyone know what White says.
AA: It’s about the fighters, who need to provide for their families. They need to pay rent. They need to pay bills. Why can we not put on a safe event? I believe Dana White can put on a safe event. I believe Hunter [Campbell], Sean Shelby, Mick [Maynard], Dr. [Jeff] Davidson, all these guys, they’re going to take the right measurement to put on a safe event. I trust them.
Some of the people who are sitting behind the computer saying they can’t but they’re the reason we’re fighting today.
TR: How? Did Abdelaziz ask how White can put on a safe event? White’s been saying the same shit for weeks now and not once has he told us the plan to make sure everyone — and I mean everyone from the folks who set up the arena to the people who sweep up after the event — will be safe. Trusting a fight promoter is a dangerous and dumb thing. Their job is to separate people from their money. In this case, White could take more than money from people, he could take their health.
AA: If they can put it on in an arena with no fans, have the fighters at the hotel and bring them one by one to the arena with their corner men, let them do it. Let them do it. They’re the ones putting their reputations on the line. But if you’re not the fighters, you should not talk. This is my opinion. If any fighters don’t want to fight, that’s fine.
TR: Again with the shut up unless you’re a fighter. Once again, it’s not just the fighters we need to worry about. It’s everyone those fighters come into contact with to and from the event and their families. This short-sightedness is amazing.
AA: There’s nobody out there that has medical protocol better than the UFC. It’s impossible. I think MMA in general, the protocol from MRI’s, EKG, medicals, all this stuff, and remember one of the UFC’s doctors, he’s an emergency doctor and he’s at every event. He’s going to check everybody. Francis Ngannou got tested by the UFC and it came back negative, thank god. They are helping people anyway.
TR: In a word, this is bullshit. The UFC does what the athletic commission, better known as the government, says. If the AC is weak, the medical protocol is weak. If the AC is strong, the medical protocol is strong. And that doctor that’s at the event? He’s paid by the UFC, ask some NFL players how much they trust team doctors.
AA: I just think if you have problems with Dana, you have problems with the UFC, fine. But don’t use this to get back at him. Dana’s a passionate guy and he said some of the weakest motherfuckers in the game cover this sport and I’m not saying all of them but 90 percent of them are weak.
They have personal problems with Dana and they want to get back at him and they use it for clickbait.
TR: Here we go with the media is a bunch of wimps. What the hell does that have to do with anything? Also, it’s a bunch of bullshit, but hey, it sounds good and it gets the base fired up, so why not repeat it?
Do I have problems with the way Dana White does business? Yes I do and I have every right to express those opinions. If I didn’t do that I would feel as if I’m not doing my job. Saying it’s dangerous to stage a fight card during a global pandemic is not because of some personal problem with White, it’s because it’s dangerous to stage a fight card during a global pandemic.
AA: Nobody can tell no fighter they can’t fight. Nobody can make the fighters fight. The UFC can offer you a fight. I’m going to tell you something, you can say whatever you want with the man, we go up and down, sometimes we don’t agree but the man never lied to me. If he never lied to me, I’m going to believe everything he says. Simple.
TR: I don’t know how to answer this…if I was a fighter and my manager said he trusted Dana White and the UFC I would fire him on the spot.
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