Earlier today it was reported that a physical altercation between two prominent MMA managers occured at last night’s PFL event in Las Vegas.
Abe Kawa, who is the Vice President of First Round Management, told ESPN that Ali Abdelaziz, the CEO of Dominance MMA, approached him at Mandalay Bay last night and proceeded to slap him across the face.
That strike prompted a scuffle to ensue, resulting in the two prominent MMA managers being quickly separated by security and police in attendance.
According to former UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, who is a client of Kawa’s, Ali approached Abe in the crowd and proceeded to slap him “like a b*tch” before he “was gone in 15 seconds”.
PFL executive vice president Jim Bramson told ESPN that security and police dealt with the altercation, but PFL officials will also launch an investigation.
“We were focused on the action in the cage,” Bramson said. “We’re going to look into it, and see if we can find anything out about it.”
Most recently, Abe’s older brother Malki took to Twitter where he had the following to say regarding last night’s controversial incident.
One day (really soon) I’ll tell you guys the truth about my “altercations” with that rat. But so we’re clear, he never ko’d me, never dazed me, never did anything but throw a sucker punch and then I got grabbed
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) October 12, 2019
“One day (really soon) I’ll tell you guys the truth about my “altercations” with that rat. But so we’re clear, he never KO’d me, never dazed me, never did anything but throw a sucker punch and then I got grabbed.”
Second altercation ended up with me soccer kicking him in the head l. he threw a kick I caught, and Forrest came to break it up. He hit the ground, I kicked his head.
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) October 12, 2019
“Second altercation ended up with me soccer kicking him in the head. He threw a kick I caught, and Forrest came to break it up. He hit the ground, I kicked his head.”
Malki Kawa continued:
I never said anything because BOTH TIMES he called to apologize. Both time’s. Like a little bitch. But now I see he did that to avoid me pressing charges. Which I was never going to do….
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) October 12, 2019
“I never said anything because BOTH TIMES he called to apologize. Both time’s. Like a little bitch. But now I see he did that to avoid me pressing charges. Which I was never going to do….”
But like I said, I’ll give all the details later. So we’re clear, any friend of his is an enemy of mine. We can fight all day, but coming at anyone in my family and you cross the line.
— malki kawa (@malkikawa) October 12, 2019
“But like I said, I’ll give all the details later. So we’re clear, any friend of his is an enemy of mine. We can fight all day, but coming at anyone in my family and you cross the line.”
The Kawa brothers represent a number of MMA fighters including reigning UFC light heavyweight kingpin Jon Jones, welterweight standouts Tyron Woodley and Jorge Masvidal, as well as the aforementioned Anthony Pettis.
Meanwhile, Ali Abdelaziz and Dominance MMA represent a plethora of fighters including UFC Champions Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo.
This is not the first time that Ali Abdelaziz has found himself in controversy. The controversial manager was involved in an altercation with former UFC interim welterweight title holder Colby Covington earlier this year.
In addition, Abdelaziz has also been called out by Conor McGregor who accused the Dominance MMA CEO of being a terrorist rat snitch.
What do you think of the ongoing beef between First Round Management and Dominance MMA? Sound off in the comments section PENN Nation!