Ali Abdelaziz sends a warning to UFC fighters regarding USADA: ‘It’s them or us!’

MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz wants fighters to careful in their dealings with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).

Abdelaziz is the CEO of Dominance MMA. The company is responsible for a roster of MMA talent including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Frankie Edgar, Kamaru Usman, and Henry Cejudo (to name a few).

Never afraid to voice his opinion, Abdelaziz recommended on Twitter that fighters avoid communication with USADA, out of risk of being suspended.

If you are an UFC fighter out there and USADA tried to call you and tried to talk to you directly , Never do that because their job is to get suspensions , it’s them or us

— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) December 3, 2019

“If you are an UFC fighter out there and USADA tried to call you and tried to talk to you directly, Never do that because their job is to get suspensions , it’s them or us.” – Ali Abdelaziz on Twitter.

The MMA manager suggested that USADA takes an over-the-top role in finding and suspending UFC fighters. He believes UFC fighter’s should never talk directly to the organization.

A few hours later, Aziz counterbalanced his comment by sending a message of support for the company.

“USADA is very important part of this sport to keep all these cheating people out of this sport , sometime I disagree on some things but we need them to keep this sport clean.”

USADA is very important part of this sport to keep all these cheating people out of this sport , sometime I disagree on some things but we need them to keep this sport clean .

— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) December 4, 2019

USADA and its actions within the UFC have become a point of contention in recent months.

Most notably, Nate Diaz refused to fight Jorge Masvidal at UFC 244 after testing positive for a prohibited substance (although he denied cheating). The anti-doping company were quick to exonerate Diaz after whittling the test result down to a tainted supplement, and the fight was resumed.

Last month the company also implemented major changes to their anti-doping policies.

“If a situation arises where an athlete tests positive and is able to demonstrate by clear and convincing evidence that the cause of the positive test was due to a supplement certified by one of the certifiers in the UFC rules, he or she will not be subject to an anti-doping policy violation under the rules and will be permitted to compete after follow-up testing and when there is no performance enhancing benefit in question.”

It seems USADA is attempting to reduce suspensions for only appropriate and intentional doping violations. Ali Abdelaziz is convinced otherwise. Who do you agree with? Let us know in the comments below.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 12/3/2019.