Magomed Ankalaev‘s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, recently addressed the feud with Alex Pereira. He clarified that it has been misunderstood within the MMA community. The Dominance MMA manager stressed that there is no real animosity between them.
Ankalaev and Pereira faced off in a light heavyweight title rematch at UFC 320 last Saturday. They engaged in a back-and-forth during the pre-fight press conference, where the Russian mocked ‘Poatan’s phrase, ‘Chama.’
Unlike their first fight, Pereira was aggressive from the start and landed a powerful overhand right and later dropped Ankalaev. He followed that up by landing ground strikes and vicious elbows before the referee stepped in to stop the fight.
Pereira dominated Ankalaev, securing a 1st round TKO at 1:20 to reclaim the light heavyweight championship. It marked his second light heavyweight title reign and his third UFC championship reign overall.
In an Instagram post, Abdelaziz broke his silence regarding Pereira’s comments about his social media behavior. He explained that their so-called feud was strictly business to sell the fight.
Abdelaziz emphasized that he respects Pereira. He also clarified that Ankalaev had approved all posts made on his behalf.
“I know [Pereira’s] coaches, managers, and always show them respect,” Abdelaziz wrote. “Whatever I can do to help [Ankalaev], I will do it. As long as I don’t insult someone’s family, religion, or nation.”
He added:
“Everything Ankalaev said on his social media, he approved it. And if I did help him, it was his knowledge. But, at the end of the day, we are in the fighting business…We move on. I don’t have any problems with Alex.”
Ali Abdelaziz Responds to Alex Pereira’s Comments
Ali Abdelaziz also responded to Pereira’s criticism about his sports background. The UFC champion had questioned how the Dominance MMA manager could speak about other athletes despite never competing in sports.
In his post, Abdelaziz rejected the claim, highlighting his high-level Brazilian Jiu Jitsu background under Renzo Gracie. He also mentioned his competition experience in combat sports.
Despite the misunderstanding about his background, Abdelaziz made it clear that the issue was between Pereira and Ankalaev, not him.
“About me doing sports or not doing sports, this is irrelevant,” Abdelaziz wrote. “I have two black belts in Judo and Jiu Jitsu under Master Renzo Gracie. And, I also competed in Judo and MMA. But, in reality, this is not about me and Alex.”
Abdelaziz Makes Revelation About Ankalaev Following Loss to Pereira
Abdelaziz also revealed that Ankalaev wasn’t at full health going into his rematch against Pereira at UFC 320. The Dominance MMA manager even advised his client not to compete as a result of not having the proper preparation.
Abdelaziz shared that Ankalaev training camp hadn’t gone well. He implied that client was unable to fight at a high level, which ultimately cost him his light heavyweight title.
“There’s a lot of things [that] happened with Ankalaev in his camp. But, it’s for him to talk about. Not me. And if I need to talk about it, I will talk about it,” Abdelaziz wrote. “If it was up to me, he should have never fought due to some things. But, he’s a grown man, he makes his own decisions, and he lives by his actions.”
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