A pair of top Ultimate Fighting Championship strawweights
have changed representation, and their new manager holds them in
extremely high regard.
This week, management team Dominance MMA, helmed by Ali Abdelaziz,
has just brought two more recruits for his team of athletes: top
strawweight contenders Marina
Rodriguez and Jessica
Andrade. The partnership took place after a meeting between
Gilliard
Alfredo Fagundes, also known as Gilliard “Parana,” the head
coach of Parana Vale Tudo who managed both in a partnership between
his Top Fight agency and Brazilian manager Tiago Okamura. “Parana”
spoke to Sherdog on Wednesday about his fighters being signed to
the international management organization of Dominance MMA.
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“I sat with Ali in a meeting and saw his numbers, his involvement
with the UFC,” Fagundes explained. “For those who are at a high
level [and] close to the belt, it is very worthwhile to deal with
him. I talked to Okamura, who continues to be a great friend and
partner with other athletes, and he understood.”
Sherdog then spoke to Dominance MMA chief Abdelaziz about the new
arrangement with the two top-ranked strawweights.
“I feel I just signed the best two girls in the 115-pound
division,” the manager gushed. “Jessica
Andrade is the female Mike Tyson. She has crazy talent. I
[have] never seen talent like this in my life, especially for a
girl; and Marina
Rodriguez, she is the female Anderson
Silva. She is one of the best strikers in the UFC. I truly
believe her [striking] is even better than Valentina
[Shevchenko’s]. She has a great team with her great coach. She will
[win] one fight and fight for the title. I’m very happy to start
working with the Mike Tyson and Anderson
Silva of [the] strawweight division, and I see a brilliant
future for both.”
With a large stable under the Dominance MMA banner, including names
like Kamaru
Usman, Justin
Gaethje, Islam
Makhachev and Beneil
Dariush, Abdelaziz firmly keeps his finger on the pulse of the
sport. Two of the lightweights he represents in Makhachev and
Dariush will be competing at UFC 280 in October in Abu Dhabi,
United Arab Emirates.
“I’m excited about Charles
Oliveira and Islam,” he noted. “As I told you a few weeks ago,
in my eyes, Charles is the champion. We respect him a lot, his
coach ‘Macaco’ is a legend, but this is business. I know Charles is
a tough opponent, but Islam is very hard to beat stylistic. It’s
gonna be a great fight, and the best will leave with the belt.”
According to Abdelaziz, his client Dariush did not complain when
his prospective opponent changed from Makhachev to Mateusz
Gamrot. Dariush and Makhachev had been linked together in the
past, but Makhachev was elevated to fight for the vacant
lightweight strap. The manager believes a win for Dariush will put
him in contention for the next title shot.
“Beneil
Dariush said, ‘close your eyes and [point] your finger [to the
ranked lightweight list], get a name and give [him to] me,’”
Abdelaziz explained. “He didn’t care who he fights. Beneil
Dariush, in my opinion, in my whole history, [is one of a very
few like] Khabib [Nurmagomedov] and Frankie
Edgar…they never question their opponent. These are real
fighters. Dariush is a real gangster. He is one of the best
fighters in the world, and his fight with Gamrot will be a no. 1
contender match for Beneil. He is the next for the title. I know
Gamrot is a great fighter, but Beneil will knock him out.”