Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz was branded a “terrorist” by Conor McGregor prior to Saturday night’s fight at UFC 229, but in the aftermath of the shocking scenes that took place following the event he has attempted to turn the spotlight away from his client and back towards the Irishman.
“You can’t bite a dog and not expect to be bitten,” Abdelaziz told USAToday. “You can’t play with fire and not expect to be burned. This man, Conor McGregor, is not a good guy.”
That being said, Abdelaziz did acknowledge that Nurmagomedov was also in the wrong for jumping the cage following his victory and attacking McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis, but he still believes that McGregor was the catalyst for everything that went wrong on Saturday night.
“I got zero respect for Conor McGregor. His team, his whole entourage, zero. These guys, they demand respect, but you earn respect. How are you going to earn respect when you talk crazy about people’s family, religion, countries?”
Abdelaziz also suggested that the UFC also had a part to play in the chaotic scenes due to their willingess to use violent footage from an earlier altercation back in April where McGregor attacked a fighter bus containing Nurmagomedov as part of their promotional build-up to the event.
“Let’s be real. The UFC promoted this fight with the videos. They didn’t promote this as going to a golf tournament. They promoted this as a fight.”
