Ilia Topuria’s manager Malki Kawa has fired back at Ali Abdelaziz after the longtime MMA manager claimed Usman Nurmagomedov would make Topuria quit if the two lightweight contenders ever met.
Abdelaziz, who represents Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, recently appeared on Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo’s Pound4Pound podcast, where he discussed his plans for Nurmagomedov’s UFC debut. The PFL lightweight champion is expected to finally make the move to the UFC, and Abdelaziz said he would like to see him face Topuria.
The comments did not sit well with Kawa, who responded in a video posted to social media and took aim at Abdelaziz for publicly discussing potential matchups involving his clients.
“You got this guy. He's sitting there with two of his clients, right? And one of them happens to be Usman. And they're sitting there talking about his next opponent and then (he says), ‘oh, yeah, he will beat this guy, he will beat that guy, he will do this and he will do that.’ Guys, shut the fuck up,” Kawa said.
“Ilia Topuria would fucking annihilate 100% of your roster, including if we fought Gaethje again, buddy, he would fucking beat the shit out of him.”
Topuria suffered the first loss of his professional career in his most recent outing, falling to Gaethje in their White House bout. Despite the defeat, Kawa dismissed the idea that Gaethje had established himself as the superior fighter.
“We all know that Ilia was better. He had a bad night. Your boy did good. Congratulations. Stop hyping up the other shit. You sound like a fucking clown,” Kawa said.
Kawa also maintained that Topuria remains, in his view, the best fighter in the world and promised a strong response when the former champion returns to competition.
“Ilia Topuria is still, in my book, the number one fighter in the world,” Kawa said. “I promise you guys, when the comeback comes, you will see what happens.”
Kawa then named several potential opponents, including Paddy Pimblett, Islam Makhachev, Nurmagomedov and Gaethje, while insisting that he is confident Topuria can beat any of them.
“Paddy Pimblett, fucking Islam (Makhachev), Usman, fucking Gaethje, it doesn't matter who, doesn't matter when, okay? You guys will see a fucking masterclass,” Kawa said.
The manager ultimately suggested that Abdelaziz’s comments could be motivated by a desire to avoid putting Nurmagomedov in a matchup with Topuria.
“But to sit here as an agent on the podcast of your clients and be like, ‘oh yeah, you're going to actually lose to this guy’ because behind the scenes, you don't want that fight,” Kawa said.
