'People have been trying to kill me': Khabib manager Abdelaziz in death threat claim

Scandal-hit MMA manager Ali Abdelaziz, who counts UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov among his clients, claims he has been hospitalized twice in recent years amid repeated attempts on his life.

Abdelaziz made the claims on Monday's edition of Ariel Helwani's MMA Show on ESPN, saying that he has been poisoned on at least two separate occasions.

"Somebody tried to poison me and I was in the hospital two times," Abdelaziz said.

"People have been trying to kill me... but I'm still alive. I was poisoned in bed. I was dying. Somebody tried to kill me in New York."

When pressed for details by Helwani, such as the type of poison used, Abdelaziz refused to reveal more.

"It doesn't matter, I was poisoned," he said.

"It doesn't matter. Like I said, if you're my friend I'm going to love you more. If you're not my friend, don't come around me."

READ MORE: ‘I’d do it again 100 times’ Khabib has zero regrets over infamous UFC 229 cage jump

Further details remain scarce, though Abdelaziz was known to be in New York on at least one occasion last year with Khabib Nurmagomedov for his title victory against Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 last April. 

This was also the scene of the infamous bus incident involving Conor McGregor and Nurmagomedov. 

Addressing the news in a tweet after the interview, Abdelaziz corrected reports which said the alleged poisonings occurred in the last two years, saying instead that the attempts on his life have been going on "for years."