Ilia Topuria‘s manager Malki Kawa fired back at Ali Abdelaziz over his bold prediction involving Usman Nurmagomedov. Abdelaziz is confident that his client, Nurmagomedov, would easily defeat Topuria. That prediction did not sit well with Kawa, who defended his client.
Nurmagomedov, 28, is a free agent after finishing his PFL contract. The PFL lightweight champion earned a 1st round knockout victory over Archie Colgan to enter free agency with momentum. The Dagestani has drawn strong interest from the UFC, particularly because of the potential fights he could have there.
Kawa criticized Abdelaziz for his bold prediction. He called Topuria’s loss to Justin Gaethje an off night and said he remains confident that ‘El Matador’ would have no problems.
“Back to the MMA stuff. If you’ve seen my last post, you got [Abdelaziz] sitting there with two of his clients, and one of them happens to be Usman [Nurmagomedov]. They’re sitting there and talking about his next opponent and they’re like, ‘Oh, he would beat this guy and he would do this,’” Kawa said on social media via Championship Rounds. “Guys, shut the [expletive] up. Ilia Topuria would annihilate 100 percent of your roster.”
Ilia Topuria’s Manager Says He Would Defeat Justin Gaethje in a Rematch
Ilia Topuria’s manager Malki Kawa, believes his client can beat Justin Gaethje in a rematch. Kawa said Topuria will return and prove once again that he is the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
“If [Topuria] fought Gaethje again, buddy, he would [expletive] beat the [expletive] out of him. We all know Ilia was better, he had a bad night. Your boy did great, congratulations. Stop hyping up the other [expletive]. You sound like a [expletive] clown,” Kawa said on Instagram. “Topuria is still in my book the No. 1 fighter in the world. I promise you guys, when the comeback comes, you will see what happens.”
Kawa is confident that his client will bounce back from his first career loss. He said Topuria will use his loss as added motivation and as a valuable learning experience.
“Paddy Pimblett, [expletive] Islam [Makhachev], Usman [Nurmagomedov], [expletive] Gaethje. It doesn’t matter who, it doesn’t matter when, okay, you guys will see an [expletive] masterclass. That’s what that is.”
Kawa Claims Abdelaziz Does Not Want Nurmagomedov to Face Topuria
Kawa also claimed that Abdelaziz does not want Nurmagomedov to fight Topuria should he join the UFC.
Nurmagomedov and Topuria have exchanged words on social media in the past, and now they could fighter each other in the octagon. The Dagestani’s coach, Javier Mendez, has also shown interest in a fight with the former UFC lightweight champion.
Other former Bellator and PFL champions have faced top opponents in their respective debuts, so Topuria vs. Nurmagomedov could happen. However, Kawa does not believe Nurmagomedov’s team really wants the fight, despite showing interest in it publicly.
“To sit here as an agent on the podcast of your clients and be like, ‘Oh, you’re going to actually lose to this guy,’ because behind-the-scenes, you don’t want that fight.”
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