Islam Makhachev is in an interesting spot after UFC 284. Although he beat Alexander Volkanovski in the main event of the PPV, Makhachev failed in his quest to become the no. 1 P4P fighter in the world. While some may think it was because of his lackluster performance, Makhachev blamed the bias against the Russian UFC fighters for the ranking snub.
Although it would be a huge talking point in ordinary circumstances, it has gone under the radar for a lot of people. Islam is currently dealing with a huge allegation made by Dan Hooker. After the event, Hooker alleged that Islam injected I.V. before the contest. During a conversation with Ariel Helwani on “The MMA Hour,” the featherweight champ stated that Islam may have used an I.V. to recover from the weight cut.
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Not just Dan Hooker and Alexander Volkanovski, but their coach also doubled down on the claim. Eugene Bareman, who is the head coach at City Kickboxing, also claimed that someone from Islam’s team took an I.V. However, their source could not confirm if it was indeed Islam Makhachev or not. The whole situation led to a backlash against Makhachev.
You must be held accountable for such accusations
— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) February 16, 2023
However, he clapped back at Hooker with a tweet. Although he did not exactly name Dan Hooker specifically, it was very apparent that his tweet was directed at Volkanovski’s camp. However, Ali Abdelaziz, Islam’s manager, had a response to the whole scandal. But he later deleted the post. So what did he say exactly? Let’s find out.
Ali Abdelaziz addresses the Islam Makhachev doping controversy in a deleted tweet
Islam Makhachev’s co-manager Rizvan Magomedov has vehemently denied all the allegations. He addressed the fans who pointed toward an injection mark on Islam’s hand. Rizvan pointed toward a medical test from the Australian commission. Apparently, a nurse conducted a blood test on the Dagestani fighter, which left a mark near Makhachev’s veins.
Mandatory blood test by AUS commission, Wednesday morning right before media and photo shoot.
— Rizvan Magomedov (@Rizvan_RM) February 14, 2023
Ask hooker find the nurse with commission, she can confirm https://t.co/Vm3uZMR2zH
However, Ali Abdelaziz decided to walk a completely different route. The controversial MMA manager wanted to tackle the issue head-on and tweeted, “For all those idiots out there, any fighter under the UFC banner can take 2-3 liters of IV as long as it’s done by a nurse or a professional, next week I’m gonna expose everybody. Islam Makhachev is the Pound-For-Pound King.”
Yes. He deleted it because someone, I would think, told him he was incriminating himself with this tweet. You can’t take 2-3 L by a professional or not. It’s 100 ml per 12 hours (among other details). Massive difference. https://t.co/cFdBDUY1DK
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) February 16, 2023
But Ali decided to delete the tweet soon after. However, as one may know, nothing disappears from the internet forever. It seems that there were screenshots of the post and Ariel Helwani shared Ali’s comments. He disagreed with Ali’s stance on the issue. The Canadian journalist pointed out that fighters can take an I.V. of 100 ml per 12 hours, as opposed to Ali’s claims of 2-3 liters. It led to fans mercilessly trolling Ali.
Here are some reactions on the matter
This is incredible. The words, “I was hacked” will be spoken or written soon.
— (Real) Hugo Chavez’s Ghost (@1stab1egenius) February 16, 2023
It's not the first time he incriminated his buddies
— NotWojtek (@WojciechLyskawa) February 16, 2023
Jock sniffers manager exposes himself on the internet was not something on my bingo card this morning
— JustVvenom (@JustVvenom) February 16, 2023
He cheated. Sorry guys. I honestly wonder if Khabib did the same now.
— D. Szoboszlai (@D_szoboszlai8) February 16, 2023
So I mean Islam definitely cheated right?! This all but confirms it
— JHomie (@JHomie__) February 16, 2023
Sounds like his fighters are definitely cheating lmao
— Ryan (@ryanmcd92) February 16, 2023
The interwebs keep all receipts.
— Spaceman 🇺🇲 (@SpacemanStoned) February 16, 2023
What did you think of Ali’s deleted tweets? Let us know in the comments down below.