Say what you will about Dominance MMA founder Ali Abdelaziz, but you can’t deny that the man will go to bat for his clients — especially when he feels like they’re being lowballed.
That was the case in 2020 as Justin Gaethje, who is represented by Abdelaziz, was gearing up for a fight with former interim champion Tony Ferguson at UFC 249.
During a recent appearance on the Show Me The Money podcast, Abdelaziz revealed how he managed to get the promotion to bump up his fighter’s pay significantly after coming in low with their offer.
“During Covid, Justin Gaethje was supposed to fight Ferguson right, and I thought Justin deserved $500,000 dollars, they said, ‘No we’ll give him $350,000’ and I was like ‘Hey you cheap mother*cker, you got so cheap!”
Abdelaziz said the initial offer made him “so mad” that he promptly went home, grabbed a stack of his own cash, and dropped it off at the UFC Performance Institute.
“I always have cash with me, and I went to my house, I got $150,000 in a box and it was COVID so everything was closed and I dropped it at the front desk at the UFC security and I told the security [guard] to give this box to [UFC CBO] Hunter [Campbell] and Dana [White].
“He went upstairs to give the box to Hunter and Dana. Hunter calls me saying ‘You’re f*cking crazy, come and get your money!’ I said no and they chased me for almost 10 days to get this money and they paid Justin $500,000.”
😤Ali Abdelaziz is a MASTER negotiator!
Special Episode coming out tomorrow at 6PM EST! pic.twitter.com/FiYaqFBl9I
— Show Me the Money Podcast (@showmethepod) April 23, 2024
Ali Abdelaziz Has Nothing, but Respect for Dana White
Despite having to play a little hardball with the UFC CEO at the negotiating table from time to time, Ali Abdelaziz has nothing, but respect for Dana White and the way that the company frontman takes care of everybody associated with the organization.
“Honestly, when I look at Dana as an individual, he’s such an honorable, great human being,” Abdelaziz said. “Like, if he know tomorrow your kid’s sick, I promise you he’s gonna call you, he’s going to try to get you a doctor, he’s going to send you a medicine.
“When I got COVID, like I was telling you earlier, I was dying. I went to different hospital. [Dana] called. Hunter called. Three weeks, they make sure I was taken care of. I got like a suite. They treated me. I was like the president of the United States. Dana’s a great guy, man. A great family, his wife, and kids. These are good people.”
Watch the full podcast episode below:
