Ali Abdelaziz wants client Kamaru Usman and Israel Adesanya to fight and take Mike Tyson’s advice.
The current UFC welterweight champion has completely dominated at 170lbs ever since making his debut back in 2015 against Leon Edwards.
Since then, he has amassed a winning record which has seen him winning the gold and defeating a host of top contenders – including Jorge Masvidal and Colby Covington twice.
Since that defeat, Edwards has also compiled an impressive winning record and will likely get a rematch and a shot of redemption, but options for fresh fights in the division are running thin for ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’.
Abdelaziz appreciates there is camaraderie between Usman and Adesanya – who both celebrate their African heritage – but he predicts a second belt for his man.
“The next victim is Leon Edwards,” he told TMZ. “Great fighter but he will get finished under three rounds. Fact.
“It’s going to happen. The welterweight division in the UFC right now is very interesting.
“Kamaru is gonna [sic] beat him, I want him to beat Leon Edwards, and then I want him to go fight Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title.”
Despite both men insisting they would never fight one another, the 34-year-old from Nigeria spoke about wanting to skip all the way up to light-heavyweight to fight Jan Blachowicz in an interview with GQ.
Clearly his desire to move up is there, with his Dominance MMA manager keen to stoke up a potential fight by echoing Mike Tyson’s sentiment.
He explained: “Listen, these guys, they’re cool but I don’t think they’re best friends.
“If there is enough money for both of them to fight, they will fight in the parking lot.
“I know how people work. This has nothing to do with loyalty, because these guys, it’s not like they’re training partners or brothers.
“They’re African brothers and that holds a lot of value but at the end of the day, I’m Kamaru Usman’s team all the way.
“I want to see Kamaru Usman, before the end of the road, have two titles. I’m selfish, I’m greedy, and I think Kamaru deserves it.
“I know Dana wants it, I want it, it makes sense. It makes a lot of sense. Israel Adesanya goes up to fight for light heavyweight division [title].
“Israel did not accomplish what Kamaru accomplished. There’s no way. Not to take anything away from Israel.
“I think there is enough money for these two guys that [they] would fight. I want to see this fight now. I think fans want it, I want it. I think these two men need to call each other.
“Mike Tyson told me this: ‘If they’re real brothers, they should fight for them to make money.’”
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