Ali Abdelaziz did not mince his words towards Paul Hughes.
Abdelaziz’s client, Usman Nurmagomedov (19-0), will run things back with Hughes (14-2) for the lightweight title Oct. 3 in the PFL Champions Series: Dubai main event. Nurmagomedov won their first fight this past January by majority decision in the PFL Champions Series: Road to Dubai headliner.
Hughes has since rebounded with a 42-second knockout of Bruno Miranda in May, which set up their highly anticipated rematch. The 28-year-old was adamant that Nurmagomedov wanted no part of fighting him again, which started a war of words between Hughes and Abdelaziz.
“Usman Nurmagomedov (is) fighting this clown Paul Hughes,” Abdelaziz told Submission Radio. “This guy is lying. I didn’t think he deserved a title shot. He didn’t do enough. When you lose four rounds to one, I swear, I put this on everything, Usman said the only guy I want to fight is this clown. This guy wants to make a name for himself because he lost the fight. How do you try to make a name for yourself? It wasn’t even a close fight. You lost the four rounds. Now he tried to do this Conor (McGregor) thing. You’re not Conor. You will never be Conor. Just be a good guy. You don’t have to be a piece of sh*t. You don’t have to lie.
“In reality, Oct. 3, Usman is going to smash him. He’s going to level him like a truck level on asphalt, and you’re never going to hear of him again. He’s going to be 0-2, and he’s going to go fight back in Cage Warriors or some of these C Leagues. He’s a nobody, honestly. He’s a nobody, and I just hate it when guys – you can be respectful and get a title shot, but you want to say, ‘Oh, he didn’t want to take it.’ Listen to me: Nobody can force Usman. He’s the champion. He’s making seven figures. He’s the one dictating what he wants to do. But he wanted to fight this guy.”
Nurmagomedov was docked a point for multiple accidental low blows in the first fight. Hughes seems to think the Round 4 head clash, which busted him open, helped Nurmagomedov recover, but Abdelaziz vows the rematch will result in a much more definitive outcome.
Abdelaziz accused Hughes of trying to build his name off of him and his client’s.
“Usman fought him sick as sh*t fight week,” Abdelaziz said. “He was hurt for almost four weeks of this fight. This is the truth, and he still beat your ass. Don’t try to bring me into this. I’m not fighting you, but I’m going to say the truth. Don’t say Usman didn’t want it. I didn’t want it because I don’t think you deserve it. But now, you got what you want because Usman wants to fight you. You are nobody, and you’re going to get your ass handed to you Oct. 3, and you’re going to go in the garbage after that.
“He’s coming for me because nobody cares about him. I’m a manager, and you worry about me? It’s crazy because I have way more followers than him in every social media. He is a nobody. He tried to use Usman’s name, my name, everybody’s name to make himself relevant. Usman is going to stay quiet, and he’s just going to whoop his ass. After that, I’m going to be very happy. I’m going to talk a lot of sh*t after this.”
