UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager has said that his popularity will be long-lasting due to his honestly, as opposed to "fake" Jake Paul.
Ali Abdelaziz, the head of Dominance MMA and Nurmagomedov's long-time business partner, believes that the key to his client's success is his earnest nature. In the process of praising his charge, Abdelaziz took a little shot at Paul, who has been angling for a bout with his other top fighter Kamaru Usman.
He argues that Paul is one of the "fake" few who push fights with dishonest hype campaigns, as opposed to letting their skills do the talking for them like Nurmagomedov did during his career. Abdelaziz and Paul don't share the best relationship, which likely contributed to his harsh take on the YouTuber.
"It's not about clout," Abdelaziz said of Nurmagomedov's fame during an interview with ESPN MMA. "I think it's because he's so truthful and he means everything he says. He doesn't just say things for hype, like Jake Paul and these fake guys."
It comes after Paul called Abdelaziz a "scumbag criminal" during a media scrum ahead of last month's Katie Taylor vs Amanda Serrano fight. He was discussing Usman's efforts at securing a major crossover fight with Canelo Alvarez when he made the claim about the Dominance MMA boss.
“I think Kamaru Usman’s manager is right in that sense even though he’s a rat," Paul explained when discussing how they agree on Alvarez ducking particular opponents. "We all know he’s a little scumbag, criminal, liar, got kicked out of a country. So I think his, his manager, is a piece of s***.”
Paul has generally been reverential towards Nurmagomedov, although the favour has not always been returned. He claimed that he would like to train with the Russian's coaches at American Kickboxing Academy for his MMA debut.
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"For sure I will," Paul said of his MMA debut in a media scrum in December. "People seem to forget that I was a state wrestler, division one in Ohio. I'm going to go and get coached up by Javier Mendez, Team Khabib and that's that. They're down, 100 per cent - I've got to go 10-0 or 12-0 in boxing first and then I'll hit that MMA fight."
However, when the proposition was put to Mendez himself, he poured cold water on the idea. He thanked Paul for the shout out, but indicated that a decision would have to be made by the gym's top members, including Paul's rival Daniel Cormier.
"It could happen but like anybody you know we have to go through all the coaches and all the fighters that are here and anybody that's a famous athlete like him," he told The Schmo weeks later. They will go through the routine that everybody does so he would have to get voted by everybody. First of all, he's never asked. What he's done is he's marketed himself beautifully.
"I loved the plug he gave us, I think it was a fantastic plug and I think he's a fantastic person. He in turn gave me a create return favour by talking about training with us. But the reality is no matter who you are, you have to go through the team to get consent to train with us. He hasn't been given consent because he hasn't asked, it's not that he won't I just know he hasn't asked."
