Ultimate Fighting Championship

UFC 210: New Drama Surrounding Cormier-Johnson Main Event

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 6:29 p.m. ET

Fansided, Jason Payne/FanSided via Cage Pages

Ali Abdelaziz, manager of Daniel Cormier’s close teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov, recently jumped ship to team Rumble Johnson, sparking new drama for the UFC 210 main event.

Daniel Cormier has attempted to generate some buzz for his UFC 210 rematch with Anthony Johnson for the light heavyweight title. But this latest bit of news comes from the manager of his teammate Khabib Nurmagomedov, Ali Abdelaziz.

Abdelaziz manages a number of fighters. The list includes Frankie Edgar, Rafael dos Anjos, and Olympian turned MMA rookie, Kayla Harrison.

With members of the now defunct Blackzilians in need of some new management, Abdelaziz thought this would be the perfect time to pick up some new clients. Kamaru Usman was the first one to be added to the team. But on Monday, Aziz dropped a bomb on his clients at AKA when he announced that he is now managing Anthony Johnson.

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Cormier likely found out on Instagram like everyone else. The fighters of AKA were not pleased to hear about Aziz’s betrayal. They will likely terminate his services as soon as possible.

Abdelaziz’s Rumble announcement on Instagram reads as follows:

Such a huge honor to start working with my long time friend [Anthony Johnson] he’s not just one of the scariest guys ever to fight in the octagon but he’s an all around great human being. It’s time to get this belt.

Daniel Cormier responded with a photo of himself, Khabib and Abubakar Nurmagomedov, and Islam Makhachev mean mugging with the caption:

This is the face you get when you show no loyalty [Ali Abdelaziz]! Me and my gangsta squad coming for you and rumble.

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Cormier will likely garner little sympathy in this situation with his recent statements about Gina Carano and his insistence that he will stand and trade with Rumble in their rematch. Cormier was sent flying during the first exchange of their previous bout. His wrestling instincts took over and he was able to get the submission victory.

This is the third time these two have been scheduled to fight. The rematch was originally scheduled for UFC 206, But Cormier pulled out due to a knee injury. Cormier has earned a split and a unanimous decision victory since the first fight.

Johnson, on the other hand, is riding in on a streak of devastating knockouts. Even though he is still knocking people out, he has become much better about picking his shots. UFC 210 will take place April 8 in Buffalo, New York.