"I f***ing own the media" - Ali Abdelaziz heard sending threatening message to Fernand Lopez in leaked phone call recording

The feud between Ali Abdelaziz and Fernand Lopez has now escalated to a whole new level. Lopez recently shared an audio recording with BJPenn.com, during which Abdelaziz is heard browbeating him.

The feud revolves around Tunisian-born heavyweight Slim Trabelsi, who wants to be represented by Abdelaziz, while Lopez claims to be the rightful owner. Abdelaziz seemingly bypassed Lopez to secure a UFC contract for Trabelsi, which was soon terminated due to the legal complications that followed.

In the audio recording shared by Lopez, Abdelaziz claims that he owns MMA media. The Dominance MMA CEO also stated that MMA Fighting's Damon Martin is silent on the issue as per his instructions.

The interaction went as follows:

Abdelaziz: “Brother, France doesn’t have s**t brother. I f*****g own the media. Let’s be real.”

Lopez: “You don’t understand me, I do not have any media, I do not. I do not.”

Abdelaziz: “Can I ask you a question? Why you think Damon Martin (of MMA Fighting) don’t put story out? He has the story, I said, 'Hey, please don’t put (it out) I don’t want this s**t.' Why (do) you think he don’t put it out? Because I don’t want it put out.”

While the audio recording ended there, Fernand Lopez alleges that Abdelaziz warned him that he'll get hurt if he doesn't release Trabelsi. Lopez also shared screenshots of messages between him and Abdelaziz.

via BJPenn.com

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Fernand Lopez now plans to go to court

Fernand Lopez was discussing Slim Trabelsi with UFC exec Mick Maynard when he was informed that Ali Abdelaziz was already in talks with the promotion regarding the heavyweight prospect. Lopez told Maynard that Trabelsi was under contract with him and also his promotion, Ares FC.

Shortly afterwards, it was reported that Trabelsi would be fighting Parker Porter at UFC 280. Lopez seemingly asked for a sizable sum of €90,000 to release the Tunisian-born fighter, leading to his feud with Abdelaziz.

Fernand Lopez now plans to take things to court unless Trabelsi exhausts his contract with Ares FC, which has two fights remaining. The MMA Factory head coach told BJPenn.com:

“I’m not trying to hold his career. I would’ve let Slim go if he was honest and told me he wanted to work with Ali, but the way he and Ali handled this going behind my back and lying to me, I don’t think that’s fair. I think this ends either two ways, Slim has two fights left on his ARES deal, and either he fights those out or we see what the court says.”