The Net is closing in on Ali Abdelaziz.
And it is a good thing.
I have written about Ali Abdelaziz a ton in the past. For awhile, I was obsessed with his story. The story is out there. The great investigative Journalist Mike Russell has made it his life’s work to expose Abdelaziz and his past. I beg you to check out Mike’s work at Realfightstories.com, his research has been exhaustive and fascinating. There has also been a ton of blow back. Russell, for whatever reason is looked at as sort of a tinfoil hat character. The Alex Jones of MMA if you will. When ESPN came on the scene, and The Athletic got into MMA, I figured Russell would get tapped for a gig. It did not happen. Color me mystified.
Just check out his Twitter and all the negative comments. Sometimes Russell will share his DMs and their scary, and disturbing. People wishing him Cancer. Calling him names. Why? because he blew the Abdelaziz story wide open? Journalists, contrary to popular opinion exist to expose the truth. Journalists are not PR arms of organizations or fighters. Their not there to play footsie under the table with certain bald - headed Presidents of promotions. Russell simply does his job, and does it well. Really really well.
That said, I wanted to hear the story for myself and I reached out to everybody. I touched base with FBI and the NYPD dozens and dozens of times. I did countless Freedom Of Information Requests. I found there is a lot of myths, half-truths and lots of information that has been spun so much your head will explode. The Abdelaziz story could only be true, because honestly Hollywood could not dream this thing up.
Here is 1 myth I see a lot: Abdelaziz was booked on a 9/11 flight. Ali Abdelaziz was not booked on any of the flights that hit the World Trade Center or the Pentagon. He was however booked on a flight from Cairo, Egypt to New York City on 9/11. The flight was cancelled like every other flight in the United States that day. Alas, he was booked on that flight under the name Robert Britton, an American who he trained with at the US Olympic Training Center. The FBI has never been able to connect the dots with Abdelaziz that day and what he was actually doing. My opinion? Simple Coincidence.
Was Ali Abdelaziz a confidential informant? Yes. Ali Abdelaziz was a confidential informant for the FBI and the New York City Police Department Investigative Division. He informed for these agencies against the Jamaat Ul-Fuqra group. A group that has been responsible for killing American, and had a major bombing plot foiled in Canada. Abdelaziz married a high ranking member of the group’s sister and was the muscle for the #1 Man.
Was Abdelaziz an Olympian in Judo? No. Ali never even participated in a qualifier. He did not need to make weight as I have heard him say. You do not need to make weight for an event you are not taking part in. Abdelaziz has been known to call Conor McGregor a tapper and a quitter. Abdelaziz is 1-3 in MMA with his last loss coming from an armbar in which he in fact, tapped out. One step further, Abdelaziz was banned from the Olympic Training center in Colorado. A flyer even circulated with his name and face on it, it was distributed among the Security personnel at the OTC.
Was Abdelaziz a Matchmaker and a Manager while an executive at the World Series Of Fighting? Lots of stories out there about Ali and his time at WSOF. The promotion was banned from TV for 2 years as a result of the beating that Justin Gaethje gave Nick Newell after a FOX executive’s Mother saw it live and was disgusted. Abdelaziz pushed for that fight, and even duped execs to get it done. There is reports that Abdelaziz stole 50,000 in sponsorship checks from Auto Shopper and was also seen casting betting slips.
Was Abdelaziz fired as an informant? Yes he was. The FBI started to get hip to Abdelaziz lying to them and providing them inaccurate information. FBI Agent Mark Templeton administered the following baseline questions during a Lie Detector test given to Abdelaziz:
Before you were incarcerated, did you ever lie to make yourself important?
Have you ever told anyone from a target organization that you are cooperating with a Law Enforcement Agency?
Before you began cooperating with Law Enforcement, did you ever lie to a loved one?
Is today Friday?
Do you live in New York?
Are you currently employed?
Have you told anyone from a foreign Government that you are cooperating with the United States?
The Agents found deception in a few questions and terminated the test. The FBI fired Abdealaziz after this, and the New York City Police Department was not far behind.
Is Abdelaziz even a licensed Manager in Las Vegas? Here is the email I got back from the Nevada State Athletic Commission when I asked that very question:
ESPN is now on the Abdelaziz story. I know for a fact that no Ali Abdelaziz client is allowed to do an ESPN interview. Khabib Nurmagomedov, Henry Cejudo and Justin Gaethje cannot appear on Ariel Helwani’s wildy popular interview show on ESPN. Not a peep from a Dominance MMA client anywhere on the worldwide leader. I will not even mention the fact that Dominance MMA is not even legally owned by Abdelaziz. His wife is listed as the owner. Surely, his wife is negotiating contracts with promotions for his fighters right?
Not likely. When you owe 50,000 in Child Support you have to hide stuff. Especially income. The world was introduced to Ali’s son Noah 1 year ago today through the lips of a certain Irish megastar. I am not going to rehash it here. What we do know is that Abdelaziz is not attending UFC events right now credentialed. The only was he is getting in is in the crowd, with you dutifully eating his Popcorn. But why?
My guess is that ESPN is going to expose Abdelaziz. I think the noose is tightening around Abdelaziz’s neck. Russell has a major voice with hardcore fans and geek journalists like me. ESPN has a global voice. The minute they print a long form story about Abdelaziz’s misdeeds. He is a goner. Abdelaziz will be persona non grata in MMA. Honestly, how do we know if ESPN who now houses all UFC content for the next 5 years did not go to UFC brass and say: Listen, we are pursuing a big story on this guy maybe it is time to tell him to take a hike?
If that is the case, good. The MMA world will be better off without him. The filth of this sport needs policing. There is a lot to go, but Abdelaziz is a great start. He should really be Enemy of the State for people who want this to be a clean, legit sport like me.
I have no Ax to grind with Abdelaziz. I am just a Journalist who’s job it is is to tell the truth. For better or worse. That’s what I plan to do here, every time.
For comprehensive exhaustive coverage on Abdelaziz visit RealFightStories.com