SUMMARY
- There was a bitter feud between Ali Abdelaziz and Fernand Lopez.
- The conversation between Ali Abdelaziz and Fernand Lopez got leaked.
The MMA world is almost like a hotbed for drama. Over the years, the fans have seen numerous feuds between fighters, promotional heads, and sometimes even journalists. However, none of them have been as unique as this bitter feud between Ali Abdelaziz and Fernand Lopez.
For those unaware, Ali is a former MMA fighter turned manager and founder of Dominance MMA Management. Over the years, he has worked with big names in the UFC, including Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje, and more. Despite many rumors about his shady dealings and terror-related past, he remains a sought-after manager in the sport.
An update on Tunisian heavyweight Slim Trabelsi … if you haven’t been following this story, the UFC booked Trabelsi, a very promising prospect who has trained with Ngannou and Gane in France, to a fight this month, but had to rescind the offer due to a contract dispute …
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 6, 2022
Lopez is refusing to grant Trabelsi’s release, based on his assertion Trabelsi hasn’t acted in good faith during their relationship as fighter/trainer/manager. Lopez told me today that he intends to fight Trabelsi in court to show everyone he won’t be bullied.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) October 6, 2022
Thus, in 2022, it led him to cross paths with coach Fernand Lopez, who owns The MMA Factory in France and is a co-chair of ARES FC. Previously, Lopez housed a talent by the name of Slim Trabelsi, a Tunisian-born heavyweight fighter. Eventually, the time came for Trabelsi’s call-up to the UFC, which was torn down by the promotion, citing a contractual dispute regarding the fighter. Allegedly, Slim had cited Ali Abdelaziz as his manager instead of Lopez.
As it turns out, Abdelaziz assumed that Trabelsi was working with Lopez as his trainer and coach. As such, he put in a word, setting up the heavyweight to fight against Parker Porter at UFC 280. However, upon further inspection of the promotion, they realized that Ali was unable to produce the necessary paperwork regarding Slim’s contract. On the other hand, Fernand was the one who had the contract and blocked the move to the UFC.
Ali Abdelaziz sent threatening messages to Fernand Lopez
For the most part, Slim Trabelsi still had two more fights with ARES FC left on his contract. Not only was he trying to fight out of his contract, but he was also going behind his manager’s back with Ali Abdelaziz. Initially, Fernand Lopez was open to letting Abdelaziz buy out Slim’s contract for 90,000 euros ($97,000). However, the offer was promptly retracted after the Egyptian manager put word of the situation in the MMA media.
According to reports, Ali put a word in the media about Lopez keeping Trabelsi in ‘slavery’. Moreover, he also told the fighter to give a similar statement on the matter as well. Naturally, the 45-year-old felt drawn into a confrontation with Abdelaziz, accusing him of trying to ‘poach’ his fighter. Thus, things got pretty hostile between the two in the text messages leaked by Lopez.
In the screenshots that have since been made public, the MMA Factory head can be seen sending the details of Slim’s contract, proving how the fighter is still signed to him. On the other hand, Ali can be seen in a much more aggressive stance, stating, “Brother, France doesn’t have s**t brother. I f*****g own the media. Let’s be real.”
Not only that, but the manager flexed that he had the MMA media under his control as well. Eventually, things reached a boiling point, with Abdelaziz reportedly threatening to harm Lopez if Trabelsi wasn’t released. Notably, the manager has a history of threatening violence, as previously revealed by Colby Covington.
What did Slim Trabelsi say about Fernand Lopez?
Ultimately, Lopez decided not to back down and gave his verdict on the matter. “I think this ends either two ways, Slim has two fights left on his ARES deal, and either he fights those out or we see what the court says.” According to Lopez, after what Ali Abdelaziz had done, this was the only solution to the matter.
As mentioned previously, Fernand Lopez threatened to take the matter to court, if Slim Trabelsi tried to fight out of his contract. In the past, the Tunisian heavyweight had spoken out against the coach and his ill-treatment of him. As per Trabelsi, Lopez had slowed down his career and kept him only to be used as a sparring partner for Francis Ngannou and Ciryl Gane.
Regarding Slim Trabelsi: Fernand Lopez tells me Slim still is under contract with ARES FC and he won’t be letting him out of the deal to sign with Bellator. Once Bellator announces the deal he will be filing an injunction. #Bellator #MMA
— Cole Shelton (@ColeShelton91) April 27, 2023
Additionally, with him being an illegal immigrant, Slim alleged that Lopez never helped him get the documents he needed. As such, Trabelsi was tied to Lopez and ARES FC, unable to fight elsewhere. Originally hailing from Tunis, Tunisia, Trabelsi, Slim’s story has numerous parallels to that of Francis Ngannou. Sleeping in the streets and struggling to put together money for his visa, the fighter had to endure a lot of hardships.
At the same time, Coach Lopez revealed all that he had done for the fighter. According to the ARES FC co-chair, he would spend money to buy Trabelsi clothes, accommodation, and even medical insurance and glasses for his eye problems. Moroever, Fernand revealed that in all this time, he had not received a single dollar from the fighter.
What is the latest update on the matter?
Thereafter, it was revealed that Slim had initially opted out of his contract with Lopez in 2021. However, he returned to try and mend broken bonds, inking a new 3-year deal in 2022. At this point, Slim revealed how he struggled to find fights outside of France, having to hide in cars and illegally crossing borders to do so. Thus, he apologized to Fernand Lopez, begging him for a second chance to rekindle their relationship.
Despite some initial hesitance, Lopez agreed offering to help the fighter. However, their relationship again deteriorated amid preparations for Trabelsi’s ARES heavyweight title fight. Having to manage his fighter for UFC Paris and his family commitments, Fernand was unable to spend much time with Slim. Instead, he left a full contingent of trainers and coaches to help him, which did not go down well with the fighter.
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Since Ali Abdelaziz’s interjection, things have once again gone sideways. In 2023, Dominance MMA revealed that Trabelsi was now a Bellator fighter under a “six-figure,” multi-fight, multi-year deal”. Since then Slim went on to win against Davion Franklin at Bellator 300. Currently, Slim is said to be fighting out of Poznań, Poland, sporting a 6-0 MMA record.
According to reports, Fernand Lopez had stated that Slim was still under contract with ARES FC. As such, he was not allowed to sign on with another organization, let alone fight outside his promotion. Speaking to the media, Fernand Lopez revealed that he had filed an injunction to contest the new deal. Currently, there is no other update on the matter.