WSOF VP: Alvarez ruined Bellator
Ali Abdelaziz: “He ruined some people’s careers. I believe he ruined this promotion because they can’t sign anyone because of one guy.”
The World Series of Fighting (WSOF) made news earlier this week when it challenged Bellator to a winner take all PPV matchup. And yesterday Anthony Johnson revealed his next fight would be his last on his contract, however Vice-President Ali Abdelaziz believes that whether or not they resign Johnson, they won’t make the same mistake Bellator made with Eddie Alvarez:
“Eddie Alvarez single-handedly ruined one promotion because all this drama and nasty things that happened,” Abdelaziz said. “He ruined some people’s careers. I believe he ruined this promotion because they can’t sign anyone because of one guy. Why would I force a guy to be with me if he doesn’t want to be with me? You have to understand, the fan is always going to go with the fighters, if the fighter is right, and Eddie was right.”
“If Anthony’s contract is over and he want to go and fight in different place… Guess what? I’m going to give him a big huge hug and say good luck and wish him the best of luck,” he continued in a matter of fact tone. “This is 2014. Were not boxing or different sports. If somebody have a dream to fight wherever you call it, the UFC, whatever… Who am I as a human being an individual, from keeping him from achieving his dreams? Everybody has a dream and me and Ray, and Sean, when we started this promotion, we said ‘fighters first.’ Guarantee you this is why we have so much fans behind us, and supporting us. We might not be getting the biggest rating whatever, but I can guarantee you whoever tunes in to watch World Series of Fighting on NBC Sports, they are really true MMA fans.”