Manager on Nurmagomedov cancelation: He was in so much pain I panicked

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s longtime manager Ali Abdel-Aziz appeared recently on The MMA Hour and detailed how the fighter was pulled from his Interim title fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 on Saturday.

Normally we’re supposed to get back at 6 o’clock in the morning and cut weight, but at 3:45 in the morning I went to the room — and my room was right next to his room, and he was in so much pain, said Abdel-Aziz as transcribed by Chuck Mindenhall for MMA Fighting. And after that I panicked. Because this is not just somebody I manage, this is my little brother. I have a different relationship with all the guys I manage, because if I can’t be your friend or we can’t be like brothers, we can’t work together.

I panicked, and the first thing I wanted to do, I wanted to help him. I wanted to bring some care to him. I thought about calling 911, but I thought, listen, we can pick him up. When we picked him up, the whole group, he couldn’t even walk. We put him in my car and drove straight to the hospital. On the way to the hospital I tried to get a hold of the UFC. It was 4 o’clock in the morning by the time I got to the car.

Normally, for the last eight or nine years that I’ve worked with the UFC, if anything happens you call two people — the matchmaker, and Dana White — and I did both. But of course at 4 o’clock in the morning, I didn’t know who to call.

I know Dana came out and said I should have called the UFC doctor, or called [UFC medical claims official] Briana [Mattison], but I never did this before. And you know what? Dana is right. I wish I called Dr. Davidson, because we went to the Sunrise Hospital, and were there for almost seven hours. And they treated us so poorly. And now, I got a little offended when Dana was talking, but he’s right. If we called the UFC doctor — that I never had before, I didn’t know I was supposed to call him — we would have gotten probably treated like kings.

Listen, I don’t know if the fight can be saved or maybe can be saved if we went to a different hospital, but the first thing they wanted to do with Khabib, they want to stick him with some IVs. Me and the doctor who’s fighting with Khabib to put an IV in him, he fought him for almost an hour-and-a-half, and finally the pain was so great, he just got an IV with some medication in it, and we all submitted. Now he probably went back to 165 or so, there’s no way this fight can happen.

It was one of the worst weeks of my career as a manager. To see a friend go through this pain and suffering.

Two days before the fight he had a little flu, but he took his vitamin C, and he was feeling alright. It was something very minor, and he didn’t even need to go to a doctor. Vitamin C, rest, and sleeping. When you cut weight your immune system goes down. The weight cut, I’m telling you, it was the same as every time, and every time he makes weight. The last time he fought Michael Johnson, he makes weight. But I think this time, something different. The pain was coming from his liver, but I think the dehydration for sure, and I think it was part of the process.

I’m sure we’ll find a better way to start maybe the process earlier, maybe two months out, not six weeks out for cutting weight. Or just not being as heavy, but he always walk around at a certain weight and always makes weight. I don’t think it was the weight issue, it was that his body didn’t react right to the weight cut.

The manager said UFC officials including matchmaker Sean Shelby were more concerned with the fighter’s health than they were with the financial consequences of losing so intriguing a fight. The Eagle is now back in Russia recovering.

Abdel-Aziz says an April return is not feasible, but that UFC 211 on May 13 was possible. However, Ramadan starts in the USA on May 26; the month requires fasting during the daylight hours, and prohibits fighting. Ramadan ends on June 25, so any fight will have to take place before or after those dates.

I haven’t talked to Khabib yet about any fighting,” said the manager. “May might be an option, but you know, Khabib is not going to fight at Ramadan, and Ramadan is going to start May 26.

So maybe May, maybe, but I don’t know if Khabib will be ready, because at the end of the day his health and well-being are worth a lot to me than making money. Money comes in last.