Ali Abdel-Aziz Bans Diaz Brothers From Future WSOF Events
Fan favorite bad boys the Diaz brothers set social media on fire at last night’s (Sat., August 1, 2015) World Series of Fighting (WSOF) 22 in Las Vegas when they got into an impromptu brawl with UFC lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov right before the controversial main event between Rousimar Palhares and their good friend Jake Shields.
When videos showed Nate Diaz jawing with ‘The Eagle’ as several onlookers stood between them, Nick Diaz seemed to come out of nowhere to jump in the action, even reportedly throwing a beer at Nurmagomedov at one point. In an interview with MMAFighting.com, WSOF president Ali Abdel-Aziz, who is also Nurmagomedov’s manager, said it was Nate Diaz who got the trash talk started and even threw the first punch.
“Nate went to Khabib and they just got talking. They exchanged words and Nate threw a punch. I saw Nate throw a punch. I consider these guys friends, Nick and Nate, but I’m very disappointed.”
Abdel-Aziz believes that the two enemies need to call UFC president Dana White and get a fight, which has been talked about for almost two years but never made, agreed to so they can settle their differences with respect in the octagon:
“I don’t know what it is, both of them need to call Dana (White) and talk to him. Maybe they can fight and get over with it, because when people fight, they respect each other. But I’m just not happy about somebody throwing a beer bottle. There’s a lot of kids, there’s a lot of women. What happens if somebody’s face got cut? One of them would’ve went to jail. I don’t want to see Nate or Nick going to jail or their friend go to jail at my show.”
And while the scuffle undoubtedly brought some negative (although needed) publicity to the WSOF, but Abdel-Aziz told said the Diaz brothers are now banned from future WSOF events:
“I can’t have Nick and Nate come to a World Series of Fighting event again,” Abdel-Aziz said. “I like these guys, but if they’re not going to show me respect coming to the show, how can I let them back in?
“You’ve just got to be more professional in MMA. Nate and Nick, all the times I talk to them, they’re good guys, but they need to start making a (positive) impression. I know they sell better because they don’t care, but you’re going to make people not like you if you do stuff like that. I know they don’t care, it’s attention, fights, guys want to fight each other. But you know what? Fight each other in the cage. It was disappointing, to be honest with you.”
