Slim Trabelsi is now a Bellator MMA fighter after a dispute between managers led to his release from the UFC.
Bellator officials have confirmed MMA Fighting Trabelsi’s move to the Paramount-owned promotion after an initial report from MMA Fighting TSNAaron Bronster. According to a press release from Dominance MMA, the contract is a multi-fight, multi-year “six figure” deal. His Bellator debut remains unbooked.
The management company found itself at the center of a dispute between Trabelsi and heavyweight coach and promoter Fernand Lopez. Lopez claimed that Trabelsi is still under contract and committed to the promotion he heads, ARES FC. Ali Abdelaziz, the dominator, claimed he did not know Trabelsi was under contract and accused Lopez of holding the fighter in “slavery”.
Lopez did not immediately respond to a request for comment from MMA Fighting. But Lopez told MMA reporter Cole Shelton that he plans to contest the new deal.
Regarding Slim Trabelsi: Fernand Lopez told me that Slim is still under contract with ARES FC and will not let him out of the deal to sign with Bellator. Once Bellator announces the deal, it will file an injunction. # Speculators #MMA
– Cole Shelton (@ColeShelton91) April 27, 2023
A Bellator official declined to comment on Lopez’s statement. The former MMA factory owner offered to transfer Trabelsi’s contract to Abdelaziz for €90,000, but he refused when the feud broke out into the open.
Trabelsi told MMA Fighting that Abdelaziz is his manager and that he would like to move on from Lopez, whom he accused of blocking his career.
“I don’t need anything for [Lopez],” he said. “I don’t want any trouble with him, but let me go.”
Lopez responded by saying that Trabelsi, who hails from Tunisia but moved to Paris without a visa, said he had invested money in the fighter he was expecting to recoup. He criticized Abdulaziz for interfering with his client by walking away from a valid contract.
He said, “This is not the way to treat people.” “If you’re under a management contract, stick with your manager, and when it’s over, you can move on. Don’t do that. It’s wrong to do that.”
Trabelsi is undefeated as a heavyweight professional, earning a 4-0 record on the international circuit including back-to-back ARES victories. He was scheduled to face Parker Porter at UFC 280 before an administrative dispute led to his release.