Welcome To The MMA Management Clown Show

or Bro, this shit is getting stale

So, here we are, back to looking at MMA management. And yes, Ali Abdelaziz is somehow involved in this, because of course he is. Over the weekend, MMA Junkie reported that Abdelaziz and Abe Kawa of First Round Management were involved in an incident at the Mandalay Bay Events Center during Friday's PFL event. ESPN filled in the details.

Kawa said that Abdelaziz slapped him. Kawa's client, Anthony Pettis, said he witnessed the altercation.

"LVMPD officers were on scene and temporarily detained one of the subjects during the investigation," a police spokesperson told ESPN. "That subject was cooperative. He was issued a citation and released. No enforcement action was taken regarding the second subject, who was also cooperative. There were no significant injuries."

Abdelaziz's tough guy act has grown stale. There's nothing charming or admirable about acting like a buffoon in public settings, but Abdelaziz seems to do that on the reg. It's hard to imagine his tomfoolery playing in any other sport, but in MMA it's accepted and maybe even encouraged. After all, it doesn't seem like a day goes by where someone isn't asking Abdelaziz for his opinion on something.

As far as I can tell, Kawa has taken the high road after the incident. He doesn't seem to be interested in rolling around in the muck with Abdelaziz, which is commendable. There's no reason for him to get into some kind of war with Abdelaziz. Doing so would only reflect poorly on him, his fighters and his management company.

Unfortunately, his brother Malki could not resist the siren call of Abdelaziz.

malki kawa @malkikawa

One day (really soon) I’ll tell you guys the truth about my “altercations” with that rat. But so we’re clear, he never ko’d me, never dazed me, never did anything but throw a sucker punch and then I got grabbed

malki kawa @malkikawa

Second altercation ended up with me soccer kicking him in the head l. he threw a kick I caught, and Forrest came to break it up. He hit the ground, I kicked his head.

malki kawa @malkikawa

I never said anything because BOTH TIMES he called to apologize. Both time’s. Like a little bitch. But now I see he did that to avoid me pressing charges. Which I was never going to do....

malki kawa @malkikawa

But like I said, I’ll give all the details later. So we’re clear, any friend of his is an enemy of mine. We can fight all day, but coming at anyone in my family and you cross the line.

malki kawa @malkikawa

Any friend of his (that goes for promoters, matchmakers, journalist, even his own fighters) are enemies of mine. Ive taken the professional route way too long.

None of these tweets are all that great, but one really bothered me and so I retweeted that with a comment. Kawa responded.

Trent Reinsmith @TrentReinsmith

Like I said, it's the professionalism in MMA management that I admire. It gives the kids something to look up to and aspire to. Real role model material.

malki kawa @malkikawa

Second altercation ended up with me soccer kicking him in the head l. he threw a kick I caught, and Forrest came to break it up. He hit the ground, I kicked his head.

malki kawa @malkikawa

@TrentReinsmith I was defending myself. Say you what you want I had no choice

The response bothered me just as much as the original tweet.

What bothered me about the original tweet was that it came across as a brag, as something that would have come from Abdelaziz. The reply only made the first tweet look worse. If it truly were self defense, if all other options had been exhausted, okay, I doubt anyone would say that self defense was out of the question. But that last part, those last four words, those make me question the self defense narrative. Because if Abdelaziz did hit the floor, there’s really no reason to kick him in his head is there? If someone is down, that’s when the threat has been extinguished, especially if a former UFC champion was there to break it up.

Also, it’s a weird thing for a man who is an MMA and NFL manager to bring up. Especially since this kind of behavior seems to be in direct violation of the NFLPA regulations governing contract advisors, which states (emphasis is mine):

Engaging in unlawful conduct and/or conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, misrep- resentation, or other activity which reflects adversely on his/her fitness as a Contract Advisor or jeopardizes his/her effective representation of NFL players;

I do believe MMA managers need to hold themselves to professional standards. The beefing between managers has got to stop. It’s childish, it doesn’t make anyone look particularly tough and it reflects poorly on everyone from the UFC down to the fighters.

I also believe that promoters should make an example of Abdelaziz and stop working with him. Anyone who needs to be hold back by one of the fighters they manage so they don’t slug another fighter in a buffet line, might not be the guy out there representing your organization in any way.

I doubt the UFC will tell Abdelaziz that it’s through with him. With that I’ll be happy if we never hear about another altercation between managers again.

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