Something Doesn't Seem Right At PFL 8
or is Ali Abdelaziz getting special treatment for his clients...again?
On Wednesday night, Michael Fiedel from The Body Lock pointed out something strange heading into tonight's PFL 8 card. Fiedel noticed that No. 1 seeded lightweight Natan Schulte was fighting the No. 8 seeded Ramsey Nijem. As Fiedel noted, Nijem did not compete during the 2019 PFL regular season.
I had some time on my hands, so I decided to look into this.
It turns out that Nijem is listed as having three regular-season points and a record of 1-1 during the 2019 PFL regular season. However, Fiedel is correct, Nijem did not officially compete during the regular season, but he was scheduled twice.
The first card Nijem was booked on was PFL 2. He was to face Ronys Torres on that card. That fight was scratched when the New York State Athletic Commission would not sanction Torres. According to MMA Junkie, Nijem was awarded three points and his show and win pay when the fight was pulled from the card. The problem with that is it appears that Nijem never weighed in, which makes the points and the win and show pay questionable in my mind.
Nijem was pulled from his second fight on weigh-in day when he, according to MMA Junkie, "wouldn't put his full feet on the scale." Which, c'mon now.
As Fiedel pointed out, both Nijem and Schulte are clients of manager Ali Abdelaziz, who has been the focus of stories written by Steven Marrocco and Fiedel. I encourage you to read both of those stories to get the details as to how shady Abdelaziz's dealing with PFL have been.
I have requested information from the PFL on why Nijem was awarded points for a fight that he seemingly never weighed in for.
Update: According to Greg Savage of the PFL, Nijem did weigh in as required to get his points. He checked in at 154.4
As I was writing the above, ESPN reported that Abdelaziz will not be allowed to attend PFL events until a battery citation he picked up at last week's PFL card is resolved. Abdelaziz was cited by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department after he slapped another manager, Abe Kawa.
"At league direction, Ali Abdelaziz will not be attending upcoming postseason events," the PFL told ESPN in a released statement. "Given the fact this is a legal matter, the league has no further comment at this time."
Abdelaziz told ESPN that he has 10 fighters competing on Thursday's fight card.
With PFL taking this step, the UFC would be wise to follow suit and ban Abdelaziz from its events until this issue and other issues are resolved. Abdelaziz does have a pending battery charge against him stemming from an incident in March where Michael John Johnson, who was with UFC fighter Colby Covington said he was assaulted by members of Abdelaziz's team. That bench trial, according to MMA Fighting, is scheduled for November 25 in Las Vegas Township Justice Court.
As MMA Fighting pointed out, the PFL incident was the third time Abdelaziz was allegedly involved in a physical altercation at a PFL/WSOF event.
In 2015, he was seen cageside in a video where his longtime client, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, clashed with UFC star Nick Diaz at a WSOF event. Three years later, he and UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman were escorted out of a PFL event after an argument with a fan got physical.
I have pointed out in the past that Abdelaziz is bad for MMA and it's my feeling that all promotions should cut ties with him. His actions reflect poorly on everyone who continues to do business with him.