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Ali Abdelaziz has playfully reminded UFC welterweight Michael Chiesa that it's better to tap out than to pass out.
Ali Abdelaziz is known in MMA circles as a manager to the stars and the founder and president of Dominance MMA. His clientele reads like a who's who of MMA stars. It includes Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kamaru Usman, Henry Cejudo, Frankie Edgar, Kayla Harrison, Lance Palmer, and many others.
Apart from being a manager, Abdelaziz is also a former MMA fighter and occasionally trains and rolls with his clients. In fact, according to UFC featherweight Dan Ige, he tapped out to Abdelaziz, who just recently recovered from COVID-19, in a roll session:
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"Ali got out of the hospital bed and tapped me out."
UFC welterweight Michael Chiesa also wanted to get a few rounds in with Abdelaziz:
That's when Ali Abdelaziz proceeded to remind Chiesa of an important grappling rule:
"If you don't tap you die I'm not sure if you're ready"
When he's not inside the UFC Octagon or training, Chiesa can occasionally be seen as part of the UFC's broadcast panel alongside Megan Olivi and other guest UFC fighters.
Who is Ali Abdelaziz?
Most people know Ali Abdelaziz as the man behind some of the biggest names in the UFC like Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje, Frankie Edgar, and many others.
Before becoming a manager, however, Abdelaziz himself was a mixed martial artist. That's how be began to build his list of future clients.
According to an interview with SCMP, Ali Abdelaziz's first clients were his friends and training partners, and knowing what fighters go through is a big advantage for him.
“A lot of the guys I manage are friends of my friends, or of guys I trained with. I used to be a professional fighter – not as good as these guys here today – but I guess that helps as I know what they go through."
About 15 years removed from his last professional MMA fight, Abdelaziz now runs Dominance MMA as the president and co-founder.
Ali Abdelaziz says that competition is simply something that he just loves being around.
“I really love what I do and you know I think it is really about how good a person you are. I have done judo all my life and I just wanted to live my life a different way. I just live for competing, even now that I don’t fight. Dominance MMA is not for everybody. It’s for a certain kind of people. If you come here you have to be on the same page as each other. They have to respect each other. They have to be part of the team.”
Who has been your favourite client of Ali Abdelaziz? Sound off in the comments.
