Conor McGregor's long-time rival Ali Abdelaziz has declared that the Irishman is receiving "karma" after it emerged that he was being sued by an ex-teammate for millions.
The UFC legend is being pursued by Artem Lobov, his SBG Ireland teammate and a former MMA fighter who helped to train and spar with him for all of his biggest fights, over his involvement in Proper 12 whiskey. Lobov claims to be entitled to five per cent of the Irishman's proceeds after he was one of three shareholders who sold their stake for a combined $600million (£430m) last year.
McGregor launched his whiskey company in 2018 right around the time of his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov, and turned it into a massive player in the market with constant advertising. Last year, he landed himself the No.1 spot on the Forbes Magazine rich list with his massive money sale of the company.
But Lobov feels that he is entitled to part of the deal having played a key part in the business during the early stages. His solicitor, Dermot McNamara, told the Irish Independent : "My client is a retired professional fighter with a master’s degree from DCU in Finance and Capital Markets.
"We have issued High Court proceedings on his behalf to enforce an agreement with Mr McGregor regarding the Proper No. Twelve whiskey brand. As these matters are now before the court, we will not be making any further comment."
And Abdelaziz, who manages Khabib Nurgmagomedov as well as a number of McGregor's other rivals including Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, has mocked the Irishman for the lawsuit. He took to Twitter to respond to his tweets about Nurmagomedov last night to hit back at the former UFC star, taking shots at his rival.
"Is your ex boyfriend taking you to court?" Abdelaziz tweeted in response to a message from McGregor that was seemingly calling for a rematch of his 2018 bout with Nurmagomedov, who retired from the sport in 2020. "Because you stole his idea he was the reason you got smashed this is called karma you guys all belong together."
In response to news of the lawsuit with Lobov, a spokesperson for McGregor said yesterday: “Proper No. Twelve Irish whiskey was created, developed, branded and tirelessly promoted by Conor McGregor."
