Colby Covington: ‘Complete joke’ Ali Abdelaziz ‘just wants people to know who he is’

Bloodyelbow.com

Colby Covington says top MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz likes to be part of the story more than he should.

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Abdelaziz and his client Kamaru Usman, who won the UFC welterweight title last Saturday at UFC 235, was caught on camera getting into an altercation with Covington on Sunday at Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas.

Covington was waiting in the buffet line when Usman’s team came up to him, seemingly trying to start a fight, he said. Covington said as a manager, Abdelaziz should not be getting into scuffles with and talking trash to fighters.

“MMA managers are meant to be behind the scenes,” Covington told Bloody Elbow. “They’re not meant to be up in fighters’ faces acting like their tough. He was up in my face, ‘Let’s fight, let’s take this outside.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re not even a fighter. I’ll dust you in a second. You’re conducting yourself like a little kid. You’re a manager, you’re supposed to be representing your fighters, and this is how you represent your fighters? You go out there and put innocent people and children in harm’s way?’

“He’s a circus. That guy is a low life, trying to jump me in the Palms buffet. Ali’s a little scumbag. He’s a piece of sh-t. … He needs to get deported back to whatever country he snitched on. I would have pressed charges, but I don’t want Snoozeman to get deported back to Nigeria before I get to whoop his ass in the Octagon.”

This wasn’t the first time Abdelaziz has gone back and forth with other fighters. Abdelaziz has taken shots at Tony Ferguson, who has been targeted to fight Abdelaziz client Khabib Nurmagomedov several times, in recent years. He has also taken aim at former UFC champ Conor McGregor, who lost to lightweight titleholder Nurmagomedov at UFC 229 last October.

Covington believes Abdelaziz likes the attention, but said he needs to stay in his lane.

“He’s one of the fakest guys in the game,” Covington said. “He just wants people to know who he is. He wants people to love him. The guy’s a complete joke. He needs to know his role.”

After UFC 235, which was co-headlined by Usman’s dominant title win over now-former champ Tyron Woodley, Abdelaziz suggested Usman fight Ben Askren next — despite the fact that UFC president Dana White told Covington during the fight that he was getting the next title shot. Askren made his highly-anticipated UFC debut on the card, submitting Robbie Lawler in controversial fashion.

Covington isn’t worried about Abdelaziz wanting the Askren fight next for Usman, however.

“Ali is a little terrorist rat. He’s just mad that I had cat-like reflexes in the Palms buffet when he tried to sucker punch around a bunch of pregnant ladies and a bunch of kids,” Covington said. “I don’t really give a f-ck what Ali wants. He doesn’t run the UFC, he’s not the matchmaker, he doesn’t do sh-t. He can sit down like a little b-tch and watch me end his hype train in Marty Snoozeman.”