UFC star Khamzat Chimaev spars with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov

Footage has emerged showing UFC contender Khamzat Chimaev sparring with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen dictator accused of countless human rights abuses. Chimaev could be…

By: Karim Zidan | 2 years ago
UFC star Khamzat Chimaev spars with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Footage has emerged showing UFC contender Khamzat Chimaev sparring with Ramzan Kadyrov, the Chechen dictator accused of countless human rights abuses.

Chimaev could be seen training with Kadyrov in his local fight club, where he allowed himself to be punched repeatedly and taken down by the dictator. Kadyrov even attempted to lock in several submission attempts.

The undefeated welterweight also trained with Kadyrov’s children, serving as a punching bag for the teenagers.

“Despite the formidable and eminent opponent, the BOYS were in no way inferior to Khamzat in skill,” Kadyrov wrote on social media. “As befits the fighters, they analyzed the movements and weaknesses of the opponent, after which they proceeded to counterattacks. At the end of the training, I myself could not resist the temptation to test my strength in a friendly duel with our dear brother.”

Kadyrov, who has ruled Chechnya like his personal fiefdom since rising to power in 2007, is routinely accused of orchestrating human rights abuses including assassinations, abductions, torture, extrajudicial killings, and purges targeting the local LGBTQ+ community. He also uses sports such as football and MMA to distract from his ongoing abuses and to help whitewash his image on a global stage, which is why he launched his Akhmat MMA fight club in 2015.

Chimaev has visited Kadyrov’s Akhmat MMA fight club on numerous occasions, including after the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) levied sanctions against the gym in December 2020.

Chimaev is also considered to be among Kadyrov’s favorite fighters. The dictator gifted Chimaev a luxury Mercedes Benz (which Chimaev promptly crashed), sparred with Chimaev on camera, and posed with the fighter for a photo op on several occasions.

Read more about Chimaev’s troubling relationship with Kadyrov here.

Share this story

About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

More from the author

Bloody Elbow Podcast
Related Stories