LAS VEGAS – Two prominent mixed martial arts managers were involved in a “brief physical altercation” Friday night during the PFL MMA event – and a battery was committed, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department confirmed with ESPN.
Abe Kawa, vice president of First Round Management, told ESPN that Ali Abdelaziz, the CEO of Dominance MMA, approached him during the event at Mandalay Bay and slapped him on the right side of his face. The two men were quickly separated, sources said. Mandalay Bay security and then Las Vegas Metro PD responded.
“LVMPD officers were on scene and temporarily detained one of the subjects during the investigation,” a spokesperson for the Las Vegas Metro PD told ESPN in a statement. “That subject was cooperative. He was issued a citation and released. No enforcement action was taken regarding the second subject who was also cooperative. There were no significant injuries.”
Abdelaziz did not return a request for comment.
Kawa said Abdelaziz approached him in the crowd at the event, said, “I need to talk to you” and then suddenly slapped him. Anthony Pettis, Kawa’s client and the former UFC lightweight champion, said Abdelaziz slapped Kawa “like a b—” and “was gone in 15 seconds.”
PFL executive vice president and general counsel Jim Bramson said the promotion let the police and security handle the incident, but officials will investigate the occurrence.
“We were focused on the action in the cage,” Bramson told ESPN. “We’re going to look into [the situation] and see if we can find anything out about it.”
PFL’s 2019 playoffs started Friday night and will continue over the next two weeks back at Mandalay Bay.
Kawa’s First Round Management represents the likes of UFC champion Jon Jones, Jorge Masvidal and former champ Tyron Woodley. Abdelaziz’s Dominance MMA reps UFC champions Khabib Nurmagomedov, Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, among others.