The UFC’s never-ending legal trouble is taking another turn with a fresh twist. Following the top brass’ testimony in the Cirkunov vs. Zuffa case, welterweight champ Islam Makhachev’s long-time manager is now facing legal heat in another ongoing antitrust lawsuit. Why?

The promotion definitely settled its long-standing legal war with Le vs. Zuffa for 325 million dollars the previous year. But Johnson vs. Zuffa remains one of the ongoing antitrust cases against the promotion. What does it signify? The suit challenges the company’s alleged monopsony power to suppress fighter pay after 2017. With that legal backdrop in place, the plaintiffs in this case approached Ali Abdelaziz to discuss contractual matters, as he manages many fighters. However, things turned south when he allegedly declined the court’s orders. 

Ali Abdelaziz in legal trouble with latest UFC antitrust lawsuit details revealed 

“After an apparently “revolt” by Ali Abdelaziz, Dominance MMA is refusing to comply with discovery requests in Johnson v Zuffa. Plaintiffs are asking the court to hold Dominance in contempt, compel production, and order Dominance to pay legal fees,” reputed journalist John S. Nash posted on X, revealing Ali Abdelaziz’s involvement with the case.

Well, there’s definitely some complex legal ground here. According to the filings, the plaintiffs in this case reached out to Ali’s document collection company in Las Vegas. The reason? They wanted to get their hands on certain details, which could include anything from emails to text messages. Initially, Dominance MMA’s lawyers seemed to oblige, as per the text, but later allegedly backtracked.

Left hanging, the Johnson vs. Zuffa lawyers have requested the court to hold Ali Abdelaziz in contempt for not following the previous order, which may lead to legal sanctions. Next? The plaintiffs also implied that Islam Makhachev’s manager needs to follow the previous order diligently. On top of the previous points mentioned, the filings also revealed that the Egyptian may need to bear the legal cost for the delay that’s happening because of the company’s lack of communication regarding the data. 

Now, that’s about it when it comes to the prominent UFC manager getting involved in this antitrust lawsuit, and there are definitely more details to unfold. And while we wait for that, another ex-fighter of Dana White’s banner has shared some details about the head honcho’s recent eye-opening revelations.

Did Dana White negotiate with fighters after 2017? Matt Brown answers 

Recently, UFC CEO Dana White and one of the prime members of the company’s legal wing, Tracy Long, appeared before the Nevada district court. In a session full of legal questions and answers, both revealed some really interesting stuff. Still, nothing came close to the head honcho revealing that he doesn’t negotiate fighters’ contracts after Hunter Campbell joined the company around the time Endeavor took over.

Now, that was a statement that everyone took with a little grain of salt, as John S. Nash remained skeptical about that claim. But now, former UFC fighter Matt Brown, who fought until 2023, revealed that Dana was actually involved in the negotiations while he was performing at his peak when the Fertitta brothers were there. But after the 4-billion-dollar buyout happened, he started dealing with the vice president of talent relations, Sean Shelby.

“When I was kind of coming up and in my prime, so to speak, making a run for the title and everything, the situation that I understood because I only spoke to Dana personally when I started getting into those top 10, top five fights. Everything below that, Dana, he was clearly involved. He would talk to [the fighters] here and there, he would come back to the locker room and talk to you about it,” Brown said in The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast.

“After the buyout, this is just my own experience, I never talked to Dana or anybody other than Sean Shelby after that,” Brown said. “I never spoke to Dana on the phone about anything, honestly, which was kind of surprising. I think it just got big, too, right? There’s so many fighters and everybody’s asking for something,” he concluded.

That’s definitely a development in White’s claim, as Brown confirmed the timeline of the UFC CEO getting less involved with the negotiations. That said, what do you think about the ongoing lawsuit and its twists and turns? Let us know in the comments section below.