Fabricio Werdum’s Manager Proud He ‘Didn’t Fold Ferguson’s A**’
Last week ex-UFC heavyweight champ Fabricio Werdum and interim lightweight title challenger Tony Ferguson needed to be separated at a media luncheon after a verbal confrontation.
It all started when Ferguson assumed Werdum was trying to speak over him when answering a question from another reporter. This sparked a small war of words between the two, which included Werdum using a Spanish homosexual slur towards Ferguson. UFC public-relations official Chris Costello needed to separate the two men, removing Werdum from the table while Ferguson remained to answer questions.
After the incident Ferguson was asked about everything that happened and had a few choice words for Werdum and his manager, Ali Abdel-Aziz (quotes via MMA Fighting):
“I just don’t like the guy and I don’t like his manager,” Ferguson said. “I don’t like fake people. I can read right through people. Like I told you, I’m a good judge of character. Now that we’ve got that out of the way … .
“I told everybody, I was like, ‘Don’t put him next to me. Don’t put me next to a guy that’s managed by him.’ I don’t like that shit.”
Abdel-Aziz joined The MMA Hour earlier this week to discuss the incident between his client and Ferguson, and expressed how proud he was of “Vai Cavalo” for not letting “El Cucuy” have it right then and there:
“In a way, honestly, I’m so proud of Fabricio Werdum not to fold his ass and beat his ass,” Abdel-Aziz said, “and the reason why he didn’t do that is probably because he didn’t want to lose the UFC main event [at UFC 216] and he respects Chris Costello. That’s what he told me. But on a normal day, Fabricio would have beat his ass.”
He would go on to say that Ferguson actually owes him one, because had it not been for him then No. 1-ranked lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov would have opted to fight ex-UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo instead of signing to fight Ferguson at UFC 209. Of course, that fight never happened as “The Eagle” was hospitalized after a poor weight cut:
“If it was not for me, Khabib would have been whooping on Jose Aldo,” Abdel-Aziz said. “But we wanted to fight Tony Ferguson, because he was the No. 1 guy or the No. 2 guy. Tony Ferguson, he owes me. He owes me for re-negotiating his deal, because if I said [Khabib] will fight Jose Aldo, he’d be making 40 and 40 ($40,000 to show, $40,000 to win) fighting on Fight Pass somewhere. But we held our ground to the UFC.”
As for the homophobic slur used by Werdum, Abdel-Aziz claimed that it doesn’t have the same context in Spanish as it does in English. He also stressed that Ferguson used the word as well and that went under-reported:
“It’s insulting to other people, 100 percent,” Abdel-Aziz said. “I don’t think anybody should be discriminated against because of gender, race. This is something I suffer from every day and my kids suffer from. It doesn’t matter your race, your gender, your sexual choice, it’s your business. As far as I know, God only judges people, nobody should be judging other people.”
“The word, I agree, should not be used publicly,” Abdel-Aziz said. “Now, I think Fabricio has a clear understanding
Abdel-Aziz then shared his own personal feeling towards Ferguson, calling him a ‘joke’ and a ‘clown’:
“He wants to be the crazy guy, you don’t see his eyes,” Abdel-Aziz said. “The mysterious guy. Get the fuck out of here. He’s a joke, he’s a clown.”
