"I am still alive… I don’t know for how long" - Fernand Lopez shares revealing DM screenshots after Ali Abdelaziz accuses him of blackmailing fighter

Francis Ngannou's former coach Fernand Lopez has recently been accused of stopping an ARES FC fighter from signing with the UFC. ARES FC heavyweight champion Slim Trabelsi tried to join the UFC but was allegedly stopped by Lopez. Dominance MMA CEO Ali Abdelaziz accused Lopez of imposing a draconian break fee on Trabelsi.

Fernand Lopez, head of MMA Factory and Sports Director of ARES FC, has now revealed more screenshots of heated DMs from Abdelaziz. The 43-year-old seemingly feels threatened by Abdelaziz's choice of words. Lopez wrote on Twitter:

"I am still alive… I don’t know for how long, Ali has been threatening me...destroy me over my client that he thought he can just [have] even though we have a management contract."

One of Abdelaziz's alleged DMs to Lopez read as follows:

"Everybody act tough on the phone and text message, I'm gonna deal very different with this problem, all you have to do is like I said you could've managed this kid and take him to the UFC, but you choose to hurt him and now I'm gonna do what I have to do, but it's all good you will understand who is who after this is done."

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Fernand Lopez accused Ali Abdelaziz of trying to steal his fighter

According to Fernand Lopez, Slim Trabelsi re-signed a three-year contract with MMA Factory earlier this year, also committing to four fights in ARES FC. Lopez claimed that he had promised to let Trabelsi join the UFC as soon as they called for him.

It was during Trabelsi's last fight against Azamat Nuftillaev that Lopez came to know from UFC executive Mick Maynard that his athlete would now be managed by Ali Abdelaziz.

Trabelsi is a Tunisian and has been living in France illegally for the last six years, which has limited his travel prospects. According to Abdelaziz, Lopez deliberately underpaid the fighter after learning of his delicate circumstances.

Trabelsi claims to have signed with Lopez for a second time as the MMA Factory chief would otherwise have blocked many of his opportunities. The Tunisian-French fighter now hopes that Abdelaziz can successfully chalk out a deal to help him move to the biggest MMA promotion in the world, the UFC.

In a recent interview with RMC Sport, Fernand Lopez accepted that he asked for a massive €90,000 to release Trabelsi from ARES FC. However, Lopez insists that he never originally intended to stop his fighter from going to the UFC until Abdelaziz complicated things.

Watch Lopez's interview below: