Marlon Moraes says Jimmie Rivera’s coach tried to pick a fight with his manager backstage in Utica

Shortly after Friday’s UFC Utica card wrapped up, there was a brief, back-stage confrontation between Marlon Moraes’s team, and that of his vanquished foe Jimmie Rivera.

Speaking on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Moraes gave his side of the story on this back-stage skirmish, and explained that his manager Ali Abdelaziz nearly came to blows with Rivera’s coach Tiger Schulman. In his eyes, this was the fault of some misplaced aggression from Schulman.

“My manager Ali, he’s trying to apologize and everything’s done,” Moraes said (transcribed by MMAMania). “We fought already, it’s the sport, peace. He was trying to shake Jimmie’s hand, Jimmie’s wife hand, it was all a big misunderstanding because Ali never said anything bad to his wife, [Rivera] thought so. Even Jimmie understand. So Ali is talking to them and [Rivera’s] coach comes in, his name is Tiger or…I don’t even know his name. He comes in and tries to be a tough man to Ali and maybe start a fight.”

“Man this guy is in his 50s, Ali is in 40s and Ali gives tough time to fighters [in the gym],” Moraes continued. “He could kill that guy and I am glad they didn’t fight. It got close. I’m glad Ali didn’t hit him, he’s got heavy hands and I know because he’s punched me before. He’s a fighter. We spar together. Everything got settled, they left and security come in. Thanks to God.”

While Moraes assures Rivera and his wife had nothing to do with this near-scuffle, Rivera did offer a slightly different take on the ordeal, suggesting Abdelaziz was actually to blame.

“There’s no tension between [Moraes] and I,” Rivera said on FS1 post-fight. “There’s no tension with the camps.”

“It’s just his management. His manager keeps running his mouth. It is what it is. We let it go.”

What do you make of this situation between Marlon Moraes and Jimmie Rivera’s teams?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 6/4/2018.