Ali Abdelaziz shares bizarre reason Conor McGregor turned down Justin Gaethje five times: "Why do you think Michael Chandler being so nice?"
MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz recently discussed a potential matchup between Conor McGregor and Justin Gaethje. Abdelaziz claimed that McGregor's fight with Gaethje did not take place owing to the Irishman's unwillingness to accept the bout.
In a recent interview with Submission Radio, Abdelaziz expressed his thoughts on a possible showdown between McGregor and Gaethje. The 46-year-old slammed the former UFC double champion, emphasizing that McGregor had turned down the opportunity to fight Gaethje five times in the past few years.
Abdelaziz stated that McGregor didn't want to face Gaethje because the latter had defamed him on social media and because of Abdelaziz's connections to the Irishman's arch-rival Khabib Nurmagomedov. He said:
''[Conor McGregor] got offered this fight at least five times. He never wanted to have to do anything with Justin Gaethje. He said the reason he didn’t want to fight Justin was because Justin talked bad to him on Twitter and Instagram before and the history we have with him. He didn’t want to lose to our team, I guess.''
Abdelaziz then went off against McGregor, claiming that the promotion had asked him not to say anything negative about 'The Notorious' because he dislikes it.
"Even the UFC told me this - ‘Hey, leave him alone. Don’t talk with him. He doesn’t like to fight people who talk bad to him on the internet.’... Why do you think [Michael] Chandler [was] being so nice to him? Why? Because he was being told not to talk bad to Conor... He’s a weak mental midget. He’s soft like a marshmallow. And he’s a no-good, son of a b*tch."
Check out Ali Abdelaziz's comments below (18:49):
McGregor's matchup against Michael Chandler at UFC 303 was canceled after the former sustained a toe injury while training. He is expected to return early next year.
Meanwhile, Gaethje lost his BMF title to Max Holloway at the historic UFC 300 after suffering a devastating knockout in the final seconds of the last round.
Ali Abdelaziz blasts Conor McGregor, referencing his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov
In the aforementioned interview with Submission Radio, Ali Abdelaziz looked back on Conor McGregor's matchup against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 229, where McGregor lost via submission in the fourth round.
Abdelaziz claimed that the loss took a toll on McGregor and the Irishman hasn't been the same ever since. He said:
''Khabib [Nurmagomedov] took everything away from him [McGregor]. He took his manhood. He took his soul. He was never the same. He will never be the same. He took everything away from this man.'' [20:14]