Ali Abdelaziz admits he and Joe Silva don’t exchange Christmas cards, but the Dominance MMA head isn’t happy with people currently bashing the former UFC matchmaker.
“I see a lot of things about Joe Silva, and it’s not true,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “Joe Silva, yes, he was too honest for some of these cowards, and I think it’s very cowardly when a man is no longer even with the company and people come out and talk (expletive) about him.
“The thing is, if you have a problem with Joe Silva, that’s fine. Why didn’t you go public when he was there? Why didn’t you do it? Sean Shelby, too. I talk (expletive) to Sean Shelby all the time. I say it in his face, and he talks (expletive) to me, too. I am man enough to go to him.”
Silva spent nearly 20 years with the UFC, joining the promotion well before the Fertitta brothers launched the Zuffa-era with a 2001 purchase of the organization from SEG. Silva then retired from his position after collecting a hefty payout from the UFC’s 2016 sale to current owners Endeavor.
In recent days, several fighters have begun to speak out about their past experiences with Silva, launching a #JoeSilvaStories hashtag on Twitter.
For his part, Abdelaziz admits Silva’s blunt evaluations of talent were often on display but said that was simply part of his personality.
“Joe Silva, in my opinion, is one of the pioneers of the sport – a (expletive) legend, but he was a little nutty,” Abdelaziz said with a laugh. “For a guy that’s 5-foot-4 to walk up to [autotag]Fabricio Werdum[/autotag] when he was the heavyweight champion of the world and go tell him, straight up, he didn’t like some of his fights? I was right there. Rafael Cordeiro was right there, and Joe was talking (expletive) to Werdum in front of his face. He was able to go to people’s face and talk (expletive) to them, and Fabricio laughed at him. He didn’t take it to heart.”
Werdum wasn’t the only one of Abdelaziz’s clients to receive such treatment, either. How about the time Silva decided [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] should have finished an opponent faster than he actually did?
“As far as I know, Joe Silva never lied to me, never did anything wrong for me,” Abdelaziz. “Maybe sometimes he told me my fighter was not good. ‘He sucks. The fight was boring.’ I’ll tell you an example: Khabib fought Darrell Horcher in Orlando, when Khabib was coming from a layoff. Khabib finished the fight, but he ran after Khabib – and Sean Shelby grabbed him – but he said, ‘Hey, it took you two rounds to finish this guy?’
“For me, it’s awesome. Khabib became a world champion. I respect that. Joe speaks his mind. He’s not going behind closed doors, talking with Dana White about how we’re going to cut this guy.”
Of course, much of the public discussion regarding Silva’s prickly disposition was launched as part of a bigger discussion about fighter pay. Former UFC lightweight title challenger [autotag]Gray Maynard[/autotag] revealed he was paid just $42,000 to show (with the prospect of making another $42,000 to win) for his October 2011 rematch with Frankie Edgar.
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Abdelaziz agrees that sum isn’t acceptable but puts the blame on Maynard’s representation (or lack of it, as he also revealed via social media).
“At the time, he’s fighting for a world title, I agree with you, $42K/$42K is not a good deal,” Abdelaziz said. “But at the end of the day, it’s Joe’s job to get a fighter for the least amount of money. Whoever Gray’s manager at the time was (expletive) sucked. He should not be managed by him. Gray Maynard is a legend, but also, too, I don’t think it was Joe’s fault. It was whoever managed Gray’s fault – whoever guided Gray. Gray is one of the most exciting fighters we’ve seen. I love Gray, and he’s one of my friends, but I also see a lot of guys talking (expletive). The problem is, why didn’t you talk (expletive) to him when he was still there? That’s the question.
“It just pisses me off because they’re trying to smear – he was an honest man. He was brutally honest. Sometimes too (expletive) honest, but some of these (expletive), they should not be talking (expletive) because he was right there. Why didn’t you talk (expletive) to him? A lot of times, Joe told me, ‘Take it or leave it,’ and I told him, ‘(expletive) off.’ I didn’t bend to him. Sometimes I took it because I didn’t have any other options, but Joe Silva was a good man. He was honest. I never heard anybody say Joe Silva lied to him.”
Abdelaziz said he believes the matchmaking position, by nature, will always lead to some strained relationships due to the stakes of the negotiations. But he believes it is incumbent upon managers to uphold their clients’ needs in the face of promotional pushback.
“A lot of (expletive) happens between managers and matchmakers, and I’m saying this to young managers: Young managers coming into this business, 90 percent of the (expletive) the UFC tells me, I never tell my fighters,” Abdelaziz said. “You know why? Because my fighters have to step inside the cage and take all this anger and frustrations towards the UFC instead of going towards their opponent. That’s one thing I did throughout my career.
“When you’re in negotiations, the UFC is going to try and chop you up. Ninety percent of the conversation, I don’t even tell my fighters because this (expletive) is not even true. You just try to make the best deal for them, and it’s my job to do the best deal for me. Mangers and promoters, we’re always going to be trying a (expletive) robbery. For the rest of our lives, it’s always going to be them and us. But in a way, when you make a deal, everyone has to be happy. When everybody is happy, nobody tries to (expletive) somebody after. But when you leave a deal not happy, either side, they’re going to try to find a way to (expletive) you.”
With some 75 of his fighters currently under contract with the UFC, it certainly behooves Abdelaziz to maintain a friendly relationship with company brass. That said, he insists his current anger has nothing at all to do with strengthening company ties. Instead, he said he simply wants the record on Silva to be conveyed correctly.
“Me and Joe Silva are not best friends, but I’m just tired of people smearing other people for the fighters not handling their career right,” Abdelaziz said. “If you suck, Joe Silva told you that you (expletive) suck. … (but) he did a lot for the sport. You like him, you don’t like him, you have to respect him. It’s OK not to like Joe Silva. It’s OK to (expletive) Joe Silva. But you have to respect Joe Silva. If he hurt your feelings, you’re in the wrong (expletive) business. That’s it.
“Did Joe cross the line sometimes? I’m sure he did. Many times. But my problem is why didn’t you say it then? … It’s sad to see someone have such an amazing career and have done so much for the sport and people talk (expletive) about him. He was a short, angry (expletive), but I loved him for his honesty.”