Ilia Topuria's manager responds to Ali Abdelaziz's claims about lightweight roster

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WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 13: Ilia Topuria participates in weigh ins for UFC Freedom 250 on The Ellipse in Washington, DC on June 13, 2026. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images) | Anadolu via Getty Images Ilia Topuria’s manager Malki Kawa isn’t taking Ali Abdelaziz’s latest boast lying down. Kawa took aim at his fellow MMA manager following Abdelaziz’s recent appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast hosted by clients Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, with Abdelaziz boasting PFL star Usman Nurmagomedov would come over to the UFC and make easy work of the lightweight roster, including Topuria, who recently lost his championship belt to Justin Gaethje (another Abdelaziz client). In a video posted to social media, Kawa told Abdelaziz he needs to chill with his bold predictions. “You’ve got this guy, he’s sitting there with two of his clients, and one of them happens to be [Kamaru] Usman,” Kawa said. “They’re sitting there talking about his next opponent, ‘Oh yeah, he would beat this guy, he would beat that guy’ and ‘He will do this and he will do that.’ Guy, shut the f*ck up. Ilia Topuria would f*cking annihilate 100 percent of your roster, including—if he fought Gaethje again—he would f*cking beat the shit out of him. “We all know that Ilia was better. He had a bad night. Your boy did good, congratulations. Stop hyping up the other shit. You sound like a f*cking clown. Ilia Topuria is still, in my book, the No. 1 fighter in the world.” Gaethje defeated Topuria in a dramatic battle at UFC White House this past June, when Gaethje put on a virtuoso performance and left Topuria unable to answer the bell for the fifth round. Since then, Gaethje and his team are waiting patiently as they look ahead to what’s next for what could be the final fight of his career, while Topuria has taken time off to heal from facial injuries suffered in the loss. When Topuria comes back, Kawa is confident he’ll remind everyone why he’s been considered one of the top 3 Pound-for-Pound fighters in recent years. “I promise you guys, when the comeback comes, you will see what happens,” Kawa said. “Paddy Pimblett, f*cking Islam, Usman [Nurmagomedov], f*cking Gaethje, it doesn’t matter who. It doesn’t matter when. You guys will see a f*cking masterclass, that’s what that is. “But to sit here as an agent on the podcast of your clients and be like, ‘Oh yeah, you’re going to actually lose to this guy,‘ because behind the scenes, you don’t want that fight.”