Digital Social Hour - Why UFC Is Dominating Boxing: Insider Reveals | Ali Abdelaziz DSH #724

Episode Date: September 17, 2024

🔥 Why is the UFC dominating boxing? Discover the insider secrets with Ali Abdelaziz on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! In this riveting episode, Ali shares his journey from a fighter to a ...top manager, representing the best in the business like Khabib and Islam Makhachev. 🏆 Get an exclusive peek into the world of MMA management, where integrity and passion drive success without contracts! 🤝 Tune in now to explore how UFC's consistent showmanship and fighter relationships are overshadowing the boxing realm. Don't miss out as Ali reveals his candid thoughts on fighters like Conor McGregor and the evolving dynamics of UFC! 🚨 Join the conversation and watch now for more insider secrets. 📺 Hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more eye-opening stories on the Digital Social Hour with Sean Kelly! 🚀 Packed with valuable insights, this episode is a must-watch for all fight enthusiasts. 👊💥 CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Intro 00:25 - How Ali Got Into Management 03:56 - Client Conflicts in Management 07:44 - Khabib's New Fighting League 08:01 - UFC vs Boxing Comparison 05:36 - Upcoming Fights Preview 12:42 - Insights on Egypt 14:22 - Donald Trump Discussion 19:57 - PFL Overview 20:53 - Upcoming Fights Update 23:17 - Sean Strickland Analysis 24:14 - Characteristics of a Champion 29:15 - End APPLY TO BE ON THE PODCAST: https://www.digitalsocialhour.com/application BUSINESS INQUIRIES/SPONSORS: Jenna@DigitalSocialHour.com GUEST: Ali Abdelaziz https://www.instagram.com/aliabdelaziz SPONSORS: Deposyt Payment Processing: https://www.deposyt.com/seankelly LISTEN ON: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/digital-social-hour/id1676846015 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5Jn7LXarRlI8Hc0GtTn759 Sean Kelly Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/seanmikekelly/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Donald Trump is all about peace, all about business, all about making the economy better. Now it's like a third world country. Now they try to put the opponent who ran for the election in jail. They put him to jail, automatically he becomes the president. For sure. People are waking up. People are waking up. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:00:16 Because if they can do the same, what they can do to us? Yeah, for real. They can put the president in jail. We're just easy. For sure. All right, guys. We got Ali Abdelaziz here today. Thanks for coming on, man.
Starting point is 00:00:30 You're welcome. Thanks for having me. Yeah, one of the best in the business. It's an honor. Thank you, brother. Yeah, you've probably got the most impressive roster I've ever seen. Yeah. It's just a lot of hard work and dedication.
Starting point is 00:00:40 Yeah. I'd love to hear how you got there. Who was that first big client for you? Honestly, I'd love to hear how you got there. Who was that first big client for you? Honestly, I was still fighting and I was training at this Henzo Gracie gym in New York. And before that I trained with Greg Jackson and George St-Pierre came there. He's like, hey, come to New York and train with me there. And I went there and I kind of liked it and stayed. And I was just training and fighting a little bit.
Starting point is 00:01:05 A lot of people doesn't know I have some professional fights. Yeah. And I started kind of helping guys around the gym. It was like all the Gracie boys, like Igor Gracie, Hollis Gracie, Gregor Gracie. And after that, Frankie Edgar was coming to the gym a lot. At the time, he was a UFC champion. And at the same time, Henzo said, hey, I want to fight back. I want to fight.
Starting point is 00:01:28 And I think Henzo had a fight in the UFC. He fought in Abu Dhabi in 2010. Right after I started working with Frankie Edgar, he was my first kind of big client. And we was training together for like a year. Honestly, without Henzo,
Starting point is 00:01:44 Gracie, and Frankie, I wouldn't without Henzo, Gracie and Frankie, I wouldn't be here because he take a lot of risk with me because I never manage anybody who's relevant. And that's how the whole thing started. And then from there, look at who you have now, man. Crazy.
Starting point is 00:01:57 I mean, your results speak for itself. I think that's why people stick with you. Yeah, man. Listen, I, I,
Starting point is 00:02:02 at the end of the day, it's like management, like marriage, you know, I don't, I don't really manage i i don't um i don't recruit you know i never really recruit it's kind of all the word of mouth wow you know jim talk guys talk to each other let's have somebody do right by you do right by him and uh and i've been working uh with people i want to work with and they want to work with me. It's not like a forced relationship.
Starting point is 00:02:27 That's good. So integrity is important to you. And it's, you know, sign a contract. We'll keep going. And sometime I don't even resign a second contract. And, you know, like guys like I've been with Camaro 10 years, Habib 10 years, Islam Makhatchev 10 years, Henry's almost 10 years, I've been Kayla Harrison almost 10 years,
Starting point is 00:02:49 and guys who's the best in the business, and they can leave anytime they want. There's no paper, but the relationship is good, the trust is there, the respect is there, and it's been an awesome experience, and after almost 20 years now
Starting point is 00:03:04 being a manager, I'm still hungry. Every morning I wake up, I want to do something. I'm still hungry. I'm still thriving. And being a martial artist, too, I think this is a big part of it. And I'm just grateful. I love that drive. A lot of fighters have issues with their managers,
Starting point is 00:03:22 and they swap managers pretty often, right? Yeah, it's happened every day. Yeah. Why do you think that is? I don't know. I think a lot of the managers, some of them mean well. They make a lot of promises they can't keep. Like one of the things I tell people, I don't make any promises,
Starting point is 00:03:37 and that's the first thing I say. I'm not going to make any promise, but every morning I wake up, I'm going to try to do the best I can. And I will have my guys back 100%. I have my back 100%. Anything they need, I got them. Anything I need, I got them. It's a mutual relationship. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:03:55 Have your clients ever had to fight each other? Yeah, actually, Henry Sahuru fought Marlon Maras for the UFC title. Oh. That must have been tough for you to watch, right? I didn't even go to the fight. I just choose not to go to the fight. Kamaru Osman fought Gilbert Byrne for the UFC title.
Starting point is 00:04:13 Oh, wow. Khabib fought Justin Gage for the UFC title. I believe I'm the only manager in the business to have three guys or even two guys fight each other. Yeah, that's crazy. It's just, you know, it's a proof. I represent best fighter in the world. The last three pound for pound fighters in the sport was Kamaru, Khabib.
Starting point is 00:04:38 Retired Kamaru become the pound for pound number one. Now it's Islam pound for pound number one. Right. And Islam is dominating right now. Islam is, you know, he's, I think, he's good everywhere. Yeah. He's the best fighter in the world today. Wow.
Starting point is 00:04:55 In all combat sports. Any sport. He's the most dominant. He finishes guys. And even if you come, people compare him to Jean Jones, right? Yeah. Last four years john jones fought one time islam fought nine times they both lost nine fight islam have seven
Starting point is 00:05:13 finishes two decisions john jones have seven decisions two finishes wow and i know then i was saying john is pound for pound maybe one of the greatest of all the time but right now is islam is the pound for pound king right now. Yeah, he's in his prime right now. I feel like John Jones has passed his prime. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I didn't know that about this. He's still good.
Starting point is 00:05:31 Still good, yeah. But, you know, he's a great fighter, but I think Islam right now is on a different level. Yeah. Who do you got winning the upcoming fights, McGregor and Chandler? I got Chandler. You got Chandler?
Starting point is 00:05:43 Yeah. If it happens. If it happens, yeah, that's true. If it happens. I think Chandler. He's more dedicated. I think his wrestling, if you're fast smart, he should win. What about Jamal Hill and Carlos Ulberg?
Starting point is 00:06:01 Honestly, he's an interesting fight. The best guy in his division. Kick off an exciting football season with BetMGM, an official sportsbook partner of the National Football League. Yard after yard, down after down, the sportsbook, born in Vegas, gives you the chance to take action to the end zone and celebrate every highlight reel play.
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Starting point is 00:07:16 You know, Alex Pereira now is kind of protected. He's become a little bit of a star. And the UFC, I understand it. It's a business and they protect it. But the best light heavyweight in the world today is Maghmet Al-Khalaf. He's on the same level as Khabib and he's on the same level of Islam. He's on the same level. Wow.
Starting point is 00:07:32 Yeah, for sure. Is he the champ right now? He's not the champ. He's on the 10-5-20 streak, but he hasn't got a title shot yet. Dang, what rank is he right now? He's number two. Oh, so he's about to get one soon then. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:07:43 Sometimes a little bit politics. Right, because John's been injured and I don't know who the champ is right now. Pereira. Oh, Pereira. Who's he fighting next? We don't know yet. How much control do you have in who you fight that you get to pick? It's a 50-50
Starting point is 00:08:00 between me and the UFC. Sometimes they want us to fight somebody. Sometimes we'll say yes. Sometimes we'll say no. Sometimes we'll request to fight somebody. Sometimes we say yes. Sometimes we say no. Sometimes we request to fight people, and sometimes they say yes. Sometimes the other opponent, they said no. It's a matchmaker job. You know, the UFC have, honestly, some great matchmakers,
Starting point is 00:08:17 a guy named Sean Shelby and a gentleman named Mick Maynard. They're both, actually, they're martial artists. You know, they did martial art. I think May got some fights or kickboxing fights. And, you know, a lot of the boxing and stuff like that, all those promoters, they never boxed. But now you have, that's why the UFC is the best or the MMA is the best because a lot of the people who work, they actually competed or fought or they trained. Right, yeah. Khabib started his own league too, right? Huh? Khabib. right yeah khabib started his own league
Starting point is 00:08:45 too right huh khabib yeah yeah he he he have his own league a little bit down now because you know russia and sanctions yeah and daniel cormier is still pretty active in the business so you're right a lot of the fighters end up working on the business after too yeah for sure that's cool yeah boxing i'd rather watch ufc personally than boxing oh for sure it's it cool. Yeah, boxing. I'd rather watch UFC, personally, than boxing. Oh, for sure. It's a system. It's consistent. It's the show from the first fight to the last fight.
Starting point is 00:09:12 It's great. And yeah, it's good. Even McGregor and Chandler. McGregor, I don't think he's any good. But people are still going to tune in. They're still going to do big numbers. You don't think he's any good. But people are still going to tune in. They're still going to do big numbers. You don't think he's good? No, I think he's trash.
Starting point is 00:09:30 Really? Oh, yeah. McGregor? Oh, for sure. Wow. I think he's trash. What about in his prime, though? He was good.
Starting point is 00:09:37 Yeah. But, you know, he's just, I don't like him as a person. I don't respect him as a person. I think he's a piece of shit. Wow. Yeah. I don't think he's a good person. Yeah. I mean, you can't deny him as a person. I don't respect him as a person. I think he's a piece of shit. Wow. Yeah. I don't think he's a good person. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:09:46 I mean, you can't deny that after some incidents. Yeah. It's not about, it's about action, you know, like sometimes just that this guy's fighters, they go there and this whole thing goes Habib and talk about his father and about his wife and about his family. Yeah. About his religion, nation. And that's why, you know, we don't like this guy.
Starting point is 00:10:04 And if we see him anywhere, it would probably be a problem. Yeah, that one got personal. I remember that fight. It was always going to be, but it's not over. Oh,
Starting point is 00:10:12 it's still not over? No, of course not. Wow. So you hold grudges. I don't hold grudges. He created a grudge. I love that mindset.
Starting point is 00:10:20 He created a grudge. You have to come out and apologize for it or you get dealt with. He never apologized? No. Even after the fight? He never apologized.
Starting point is 00:10:32 Wow. That choke out seemed personal. He's still talking shit. Every fight. But that's a lot of marketing too, I think. It doesn't matter. At the end of the day, you can market so much, but you have to have integrity. You have to have level of respect of other people, ethnicity, religions, family.
Starting point is 00:10:48 You never bring family in business. Don't bring family. Don't bring religious. It's not good. Just talk about him as much as you want. There's no problem. Talk. You can say whatever you want, but talk.
Starting point is 00:10:59 How are you going to bring somebody's father or wife or mother? It's just a low, low trash. Yeah. Greg is low. He's trash. He's had the biggest fall off. It's just the low trash. He's trash. He's had the biggest fall-off I've seen in the UFC space. He's still a star. People still buy the hype. But at the end of the day, if you fight Islam Makhachov, you finish him in the
Starting point is 00:11:17 round or two. That's that quick, you think? Oh, for sure. It wouldn't even be a close. It wouldn't even be a close fight. I feel like his style is... The sport's evolved so much, right? Oh, for sure. Wow. He's not. Wouldn't even be a close. Damn. Wouldn't even be a close fight. Yeah. I feel like his style is, the sport's evolved so much, right? His style's not as effective. It evolved.
Starting point is 00:11:31 In a way, listen, at the end of the day, he was well-matched. He had the right opponents. But when he fought guys like Habib, he destroyed him. That was four rounds, though, right? Yeah, but Habib mauled him every round. He beat him. It's easy. Habib can beat Habib said this
Starting point is 00:11:49 I cannot finish him really he's kept punishing and punishing he wanted it to drag on yeah for sure to drag on just to make him suffer
Starting point is 00:11:56 that's funny yeah for sure who was his toughest opponent did he ever tell you who Habib man honestly Habib
Starting point is 00:12:03 he's the only fighter in UFC history. He's never been dropped. Never been cut. Never have a bloody nose. No cut? Never been. I watched this man spar for 10 years.
Starting point is 00:12:15 I never see him lose a round in training. Holy crap. I never see him lost a tap to nobody. He's this dominant. He's the most dominant fighter in history. Wow. For sure. That's crazy. For sure. So he just, he's this dominant. He's the most dominant fighter in history. Wow. For sure. That's crazy.
Starting point is 00:12:27 For sure. So he never had any problems. No. Damn. He's different. He was, he's never going to be a second happy. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:12:35 Yeah. It'd be tough. I mean, he was undefeated. That doesn't happen these days. No. Even Sean O'Malley has a loss, right?
Starting point is 00:12:41 Sugar Sean. He's already got a loss on his belt. Yeah. And he, he'll lose again. You think so? Cause he's ranked, he's a champ now loss on his belt yeah he'll lose again you think so because he's ranked he's a champ now right
Starting point is 00:12:48 he's the champ but he was a little brother coming up so he's gonna have troubles with him you think he will have problems you training him too
Starting point is 00:12:57 he's part of the team oh god 18 and 0 you got a recipe man you got a formula undefeated. He's the next big star. Wow.
Starting point is 00:13:08 From this region. How do you pick who you take on? Man, it's just this Dagestan region. Ten years ago, nobody wanted to touch this region. And I started helping guys out to bring them to the U.S. to fight. And now everybody's jumping on it. But it's a little bit too late for some people. Right. What makes that region so tough, you think?
Starting point is 00:13:28 I think it's history, so many wars. Dagestan has 3 million people. It has more Olympic champions there in freestyle wrestling than anywhere in the world. I didn't know that. That's crazy. You grew up in Egypt, right?
Starting point is 00:13:43 That's cool. I'm going there next month yeah with billy carson yeah he's like a spiritual guy he's taking me on a tour of the pyramids and stuff yeah let me know i'm excited dude i heard it's a little dangerous but no no no no man it's safe okay if you're they are american they love americans oh yeah but he's going the wrong time. It's going to be so hot there. When's the right time, then, you think? Between October to, like, April. I think we're scheduled October 5th. October is okay. Okay.
Starting point is 00:14:15 Yeah, I'm really excited, man. How's the food out there? It's amazing. Yeah? Yeah. George St-Pierre went there, and I take care of him when he's there. He has the best time. Oh, I love that.
Starting point is 00:14:25 Habib was there too last year, exactly. Nice. When did you move over here? I was almost 18 years old. Okay. I was part of the Egyptian national team. They have some tournaments. U.S. Open, I come.
Starting point is 00:14:41 I met a guy by the name Eddie Lady, who's the Olympic coach at the time. And he's like, hey, you want to stay? And I just stayed. I stayed and I began training at the Olympic Training Center called Rode Springs and working on the side, helping my family.
Starting point is 00:14:56 Yeah. And this is how I began. Was this for soccer or for fighting? Judo. Oh, judo. Yeah. Because I know you played soccer too. Sometime I played soccer.
Starting point is 00:15:03 Yeah, I did my research. Sometimes. Okay. So you got into fighting early though. You got into judoo. Yeah. Because I know you played soccer too. Sometime I played soccer. Yeah, I did my research. Sometimes. Okay. So you got into fighting early though. You got into judo early. Yeah. I was five years old. Five?
Starting point is 00:15:11 Wow. Was your dad a judo expert? No. My cousin, my older cousin was a national champion. And I started like, he took me with him and I started training. Wow. That's awesome, man. I saw you and Donald trump had a photo together
Starting point is 00:15:25 yeah man he's uh he's the best man a lot he's gonna be in vegas tomorrow i'm gonna see him tomorrow yeah at the ahern right i'm gonna see him tomorrow yeah do you get a lot of uh hate for supporting him i don't really care i don't care i don't hear people think i think this man is a he's he's i know a lot of people know him. They know him really well. The guy always keep his word. He's very kind. He's very witty. He's smart.
Starting point is 00:15:51 Look at the economy. The average oil gas prices was $2. Now it's $4.50. The average home is $300,000. Now his average home is like $450,000. Everything has become so much more. Since Joe Biden took office, the last four years got 13 million illegal immigrants. When Donald Trump was the president, it was 1.7 million. Jeez.
Starting point is 00:16:18 You know what I'm saying? 10x. This is 13 million more than a lot of country population. People come here and people a lot of say, I'm Muslim, I'm devout Muslim. I believe in Allah, I believe in God. It's just a period, you know? And people said he doesn't like Muslims.
Starting point is 00:16:39 People, I didn't know this. Find out his son-in-law, who married Tiffany Trump, is Lebanese. And he has Sean, Jared Kushner, he married Ivanka. He's Jewish, right? And how you think you don't like Arabs or Muslims or Middle Eastern, you marry your son to one. You know what I'm saying? And I think just people don't like this man.
Starting point is 00:17:00 Some, because he's not a politician. He doesn't fit in the circle. But Donald Trump is a very sincere man, you man you know see the whole thing is going on he's the only president over four years u.s president did not went to war with any muslim nation with any nation at all there was no war in four years it was peace he got all the troops back from iraq he got all the troops back from afghanistan you know and uh and how are you going to compare him now you have your you have war in He got all the troops back from Iraq. He got all the troops back from Afghanistan. You know? And how are you going to compare him now? You have war in Ukraine.
Starting point is 00:17:33 You have Israel people, 40,000 people dying. You know? And Habib Matin said, hey, Habib told me, I know you're going to stop this war. Donald Trump immediately. And I truly believe, I know a lot of people around him. Donald Trump is all about peace. He's all about business, all about making the economy better. He's a great human being.
Starting point is 00:17:52 And he treats, I know people known for 20 years, he treats them really well. He's a very, very kind man. And look, man, now it's like a third world country. Now they try to put the opponent who ran for the election in jail this is like yeah he got convicted it's crazy 33 felonies or something it's crazy but honestly they put him to jail automatically become the
Starting point is 00:18:18 president for sure for sure people are waking up people waking up yeah because if they can do this to him what they they do to us? Yeah, for real. They can put the president in jail. We're just easy. For sure. I mean, damn. Yeah, I saw that video of him and Habib, though.
Starting point is 00:18:34 He really looked genuine about his answer. A hundred percent. He's a very gentleman man. He's a very good man. His kids are great. Everybody around him is good people. You know? And his son-in-law is Michael.
Starting point is 00:18:46 He's a Lebanese guy. And his father, they're very wealthy people. I think they're billionaires. You meet these people, they act like they, like, one of the most humblest people you could ever meet. Him and his father, right? And in a way, like, you cannot tell me, I experienced dealing with these people, talking to them.
Starting point is 00:19:04 You understand? You know, it's just that Donald Trump is the right guy for this country, man. The economy was better. The border was secure. There was no war, you know. And American taxpayer was not sending $140 billion to Ukraine for a war. The U.S. have nothing to do with it. They just saw what the president of Ukraine was spending it on.
Starting point is 00:19:24 Did you see this? He's been buying luxury cars and luxury resorts and all this crap. He's a punk. Yeah, it's crazy. We're literally giving tax dollars to that. Your money and my money, my kid's college fund is all going to these people. Yep. I just paid 300K in tax.
Starting point is 00:19:39 That's going to that. Crazy, man. It's going to the Ukraine president who I i don't really support and he's paying for cars and houses i know people from ukraine they have a party they they you know but listen the war is serious now you know but um you know donald trump north korea he visited north korea president he was have relationship with putin it was all this president. It was peace with the Middle East. He got, he was respected,
Starting point is 00:20:07 well respected. Right now, the United States is now well respected because it's not represented well. You know, and this is what I, you know, it was the Middle East was the peace treaty between Israel and Palestine. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:20:18 The Abraham Accord, right? Everybody was happy. Donald Trump did this, but now he left. The speech treaty went to the garbage. Yep. President can barely stand up. Let alone give a speech. I see videos
Starting point is 00:20:31 all the time. Him falling. I can't believe he's president. It's time for a change. Yeah. Every time Trump goes to a UFC event, standing applause. Oh yeah. Did he go to a UFC event? Yeah. Every time I goes to a UFC event, standing applause. Oh, yeah. Did he go to a UFC event? Yeah. Every time I'm there, he gets applaused.
Starting point is 00:20:49 When's the last time you went to a UFC event? It's been like a year, maybe. Yeah, there's one coming up, right? This month. June 29th. Yeah, 304. Yeah, I might try to get to that one. I've been to the Power Slap, too.
Starting point is 00:21:02 Have you been to that yet? Yeah, Power Slap's great. You like Power Slap? You go there? Yeah, I thought you wouldn't. You like Power Slap? Do you go there? Yeah, I thought you wouldn't like it because the fighters think it's kind of funny. No, it's cool. Anything Dan O'Reilly does, I support.
Starting point is 00:21:13 He's my guy. He's been there for me since day one. That's loyalty. If he has a league like Jumping Jack, I'll support him. He's a good guy. He's very genuine. Normally, promoter and manager don't have a league, like, jumping jack, I'll support him. He's a good guy. He's very genuine. And normally,
Starting point is 00:21:27 promoter and manager don't have a good relationship, right? But I know what Dana White does behind closed doors and what the things he helps, what the things he does. You understand?
Starting point is 00:21:36 And on a personal level, I love him and I respect him. Sometimes business, we don't see eye to eye, but this is business. Yeah. You can agree on everything in life, right?
Starting point is 00:21:45 Yeah. Yeah. A lot of promoters have issues to eye, but this is business. Yeah. You can't agree on everything in life, right? Yeah. Yeah. A lot of promoters have issues with managers, especially in boxing. For sure. I got no issue with nobody. I love him, man. I'm so excited. Any upcoming fights here you guys are focused on right now?
Starting point is 00:21:57 Yeah, man. You got Omar, Habib's brother, fighting Corey Sanhagen. Main event, August 3rd. Nice. You know? You got Kayla Harrison. She just come over to the UFC.
Starting point is 00:22:09 She's probably going to fight for the number one contender match. You know, so many fights, brother,
Starting point is 00:22:14 left and right. Yeah. It's a lot of big fights coming up. Are all your fighters in Vegas? No, no.
Starting point is 00:22:21 They're all over around the world, man. So how do you train them? I don't, I'm the manager. I train some of the guys who are here.
Starting point is 00:22:28 I train them. But I'm not a coach. But a lot of the guys who I manage, I train. Got it. But I just do it because I love another. You know, just respect him and just give him some knowledge. I learn from someone, you know. Man, you are a legend in this sport, dude.
Starting point is 00:22:44 And you're so young too but you still have that fire in you it's impressive man i love man listen i'm a poor kid from asia but i never thought i'll be here today i i just i can never dreamt to have anything i have and i just have a gratitude and i'm very grateful what i have yeah how did you keep that mindset with all the success was it hard battling your ego? Oh man, it's just, just, just going to the gym
Starting point is 00:23:07 and training with these guys getting beat up. I was humbled. Yeah, you get humbled every day probably, right? I get humbled every day.
Starting point is 00:23:14 I was looking up your Wikipedia. You fought for a bit too. A little bit. I was not, I was not a great fighter. I just, I just kind of, you know,
Starting point is 00:23:20 and this is why I made a lot of mistakes as a fighter, right? And that's what I tried not to make this mistake as a manager, you know, just to why i made a lot of mistakes as a fighter right and that's what i tried not to make this mistake as a manager you know just to make sure my guys have the right moment the right time you know and when i have three fight i have 30 fight i have no business fighting this guy right but in a way now i slowly try to build guys be smart about their career about their growth and stuff right so you thought you could beat him, but he had so much experience
Starting point is 00:23:45 that... You know, I have a manager who offered me 25 grand to fight somebody in Japan who's a legend. I flew to Japan and fought him and I lost. Damn. But you needed the money at the time, so... And I really thought I'd beat him. Okay. Listen, I have
Starting point is 00:24:02 a mindset. I think I see I'm old. I see I can beat people who are professional fighters. Maybe it's delusional, but this is my mindset. It's a winner mindset. All it takes is one good move, one good punch, one good counter, right? You never know. You never know. Go on me or on him.
Starting point is 00:24:16 Right. What do you think of Sean Strickland? He's been pretty viral. Man, it's like, listen know he said some stuff you know i kind of you know uh i agree with and he said a lot of stuff you know i don't agree with you know but you know i think sean is a it's come a long way you know he's a good fighter you know and i you know he keep winning fights you know he keep winning fights you can't deny him he's nice about fighter but his personality is just a little bit different yeah he's an interesting one to me because he doesn't have
Starting point is 00:24:50 good mind control right his emotions but he's able to really perform well he's he's maybe he speak his mind you know but i think he's very smart i think he's like he's calculated i think he's calculated and i think he he never talked but when he started talking people started buying into it. Right? And he pissed people off and he make other people happy
Starting point is 00:25:10 and as long as you people listening it's good. What qualities do you see in all the champions? Do you see anything similar? Everybody's different, man. You got the Habib crew.
Starting point is 00:25:24 You got the Omar, the Habib, the Osman. You know? You got the habib crew you got the omar the habib the osman you know and you got the henry sahouru the kamara osman they're different everybody's so different man it's so diverse you know ufc almost 30 40 countries have guys from you know yeah uh and it's just uh and it's growing let's keep growing u is almost in 178 countries around the world damn that's incredible you know and I just
Starting point is 00:25:48 the sport has grown the sport has only been around for 30 years you know and it's already massive can you imagine in the next 20 years
Starting point is 00:25:56 how big the sport will be it's going to be huge they're already doing a fight a week or something right every week every week every week is a fight
Starting point is 00:26:03 that's crazy how much of it is just natural talent versus work ethic in your experience? Listen, talent is always good. Hard work can be talent. A lot of guys who's talented, they're lazy. A lot of guys who's not very talented, but they work hard. They will always be the talented guys.
Starting point is 00:26:26 But also have some talented guys who can train hard, you know? Because a lot of guys talented, they depend on their talent, right? But talent can carry so much. That's when, you know, you have to put talent with hard work. You need both. You have to. Yeah. Jon Jones, right?
Starting point is 00:26:45 He's talented. He doesn't work both. You have to. Yeah. Jon Jones, right? He's talented. He doesn't work hard. No, he's just a different guy. Jon Jones should have been like Michael Jordan. He should have been such a massive star. But he demised himself. Taking PED. Getting car accidents. Driving drunk, going to jail, you know, but
Starting point is 00:27:10 who I am to judge, he's a human being, you know, he's still one of the greatest of all the time. I can't take this away from him, but he has some stuff in front of his name. It's always going to be there. Yeah. Well, back then it was more common, right? To take stuff like 20 years ago. No, no. Oh, it wasn't? He was not coming. Oh, really? He got busted. Well, back then it was more common, right, to take stuff like 20 years ago? No. No? Oh, it wasn't?
Starting point is 00:27:25 It was not common. Oh, really? He got busted for it. Oh, I thought a lot of the fighters like early on in the UFC were taking stuff. Yeah, but John Jung, he was not fighting 20 years ago. Yeah, maybe 10, 15. He got busted two times. Yeah, but, you know,
Starting point is 00:27:41 I don't know what he took. You know, I don't get into these things, but when it comes to, like, Barry Bond, right? He was not in the Hall of Fame for a long time. I don't think he's in the Hall of Fame. I think they took it away. Yeah. Same with A-Rod, too. And I think if you use any performance enhanced, you should not be in the Hall of Fame.
Starting point is 00:28:01 You should not be considered one of the greatest. Wow. In my opinion. For sure. Dang. Because you cheated. For sure. Dang. Because you cheated. What about Ryan Garcia? Ryan Garcia, the things he took is Ostrin.
Starting point is 00:28:12 Ostrin is some supplement. I think it's a mistake. Okay. I like Ryan Garcia. I think he's a little bit out there. I think this is excellent because I know this happens to a lot of guys. Really? Ostrin things, it's a lot of guys. Really? It's Australian things.
Starting point is 00:28:27 It's in a lot of supplements. And people take the supplement and make mistakes. Yeah, they found out those two supplements actually had it in it. So that might clear him. We'll see. He will get a little punishment, but not much. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:28:37 Do you follow boxing at all? Yeah. A lot of your fighters want to transition into that eventually? Not really. Honestly. Really? Because the money is really good in it, right? Yeah, but in a way, A lot of your fighters Want to transition Into that eventually Not really Honestly Really No
Starting point is 00:28:46 Because the money's Really good in there right Yeah but in a way Like you know You can't bring An MMA fighter to boxing You can't take a boxer To MMA
Starting point is 00:28:53 It's very hard It's a completely Different sport You know Yeah well Usman held his own For a bit Kamar Usman
Starting point is 00:29:01 Yeah He's one of the Greatest ever He's the greatest Like welterweight of all time. Wow. That's what Dana said, and that's what I believe. Damn.
Starting point is 00:29:09 I think he bypassed Jairus and Pierre, bypassed all those guys. Love that, man. Well, what do you got working on next, and where can people find you? Man, you know, people can find me just Instagram, AliAbdelAziz00. Just, you know, I believe by the next year, I'm making some predictions. Magomed Ankulayev will become the UFC light heavyweight champion. I believe Kayla Harrison will be, she's number one contender, and she'll be the next UFC heavyweight champion.
Starting point is 00:29:45 I believe Omar, Habib's brother, will be the UFC bantamweight champion. I have a lot of champions. And I believe Bilal Mohamed will be the head of London. And he'll become UFC lightweight champion this year. Wow. I love it, man. We'll see if it comes true. I can see it.
Starting point is 00:30:03 This is what I predict. Maybe I'm a little bit biased, but my prediction all the time. Yeah? You got to start betting, putting some money behind these. I don't bet. I can't bet.
Starting point is 00:30:12 Yeah, you probably can't. You know too much. Thanks for coming on, man. My pleasure. Yeah. Thanks for watching, guys, as always. See you next time.

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