Alex Poatan fires back at Magomed Ankalaev's manager: 'He wants to be in the media'

Alex Poatán in a face-off inside the octagon in UFC 313. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram.

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Declared rival of Magomed Ankalayev, Alex Poatán is also far from harboring friendly feelings towards Ali Abdelaziz, the Russian's main manager and one of the great figures behind the scenes in MMA. In an interview with Canadian reporter Ariel Helwani last Wednesday (3), the former middleweight (up to 83,9 kg) and light heavyweight (up to 93 kg) champion made it clear that he does not agree with some of the manager's attitudes.

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Poatan made it clear that he doesn't know the businessman personally, but that he interprets his actions as a way to stay relevant and attract the attention of sports media outlets. Besides Ankalaev, he is also responsible for the careers of other Dagestani names, such as Islam makhachev e Kamaru Usman.

"Honestly, I don't know Ali's history, but we know he seems like a guy who likes to be in the media. Even now, we started talking about Ankalaev, and then his name came up. The way he behaves—I don't know about his past, but he behaves like a super MMA champion who retired and is now a super businessman, but still wants to be relevant and stay in the media. He seems like a guy who was used to fame, stopped fighting, but now keeps trying to get noticed, using his fighters. Everyone sees that," said the Brazilian.

In fact, Abdelaziz had experience as a professional fighter. A black belt in judo, the Egyptian competed in four bouts between 2004 and 2007, but built a poor record, with only one win and three losses.

Magomed Ankalayev alongside his manager Ali Abdelaziz after UFC 313. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

In addition to Poatan, Abdelaziz has already had problems with McGregor

Definitely McGregor Khabib

They were deep in real beef

Conor was calling out Khabibs manager Ali Abdelaziz for his involvement in 9/11 pic.twitter.com/yE5oGsdL0O

— Star Player (@SkaseyBallin) March 19, 2024

One of the moments most remembered by fans happened at the UFC 229 press conference, between Khabib Nurmagomedov e Conor McGregor. At the time, the Irishman launched a series of insults at the businessman, citing personal details such as his relationship with a son and an episode in which Abdelaziz was allegedly detained at an airport in Cairo on suspicion of terrorism.