Ramzan Kadyrov—the tyrant accused of well-documented human rights abuses, including forced disappearances, torture, summary executions, and war crimes—is now playing the role of mediator in disputes between UFC fighters.
The Chechen dictator posted a screenshot on his official Instagram account that showed him on a video call with UFC star Khamzat Chimaev and Abubakar Nurmagomedov, the two fighters involved in a physical altercation following UFC 280. In the caption, Kadyrov proclaimed that the scuffle was a mere “misunderstanding” and that he resolved the dispute between the two fighters.
“There is no problem between Khamzat Chimaev and Abubakr Nurmagomedov—I have made sure of it personally, and I pass this information on to the ill-wishers,” Kadyrov said to his 8.1 million followers on Instagram. “Do not blow up this problem of a global scale and do not try to instigate and tease athletes and their fans. This happens, even among brothers. But it was the misunderstanding that was resolved.”
The fighters also met and posed with AbuZayed Vismuradov, Kadyrov’s right-hand man and the person in charge of his Akhmat MMA fight club. Vismuradov, who was pictured alongside newly crowned UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, former champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, as well as Chimaev, was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury in 2018 for “extrajudicial killings, torture, or other gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.”
Known as one of the most dangerous men in Chechnya, Vismuradov has also been involved in overseeing Chechen troops being deployed to fight in Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
It is also worth noting that Chimaev had already drawn negative attention to himself on Saturday after the UFC star posted a picture that showed him seated cage-side next to Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov’s son, Ali. The 14-year-old was among Kadyrov’s children who were sent to Mariupol, the occupied Ukrainian port city destroyed by Russian forces, to take part in propaganda photo-ops while dressed as soldiers. Footage showed the three teenagers firing grenade launchers and assault rifles from behind camouflaged bushes in an undisclosed location.
The teenagers later returned to Chechnya after supposedly capturing three Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), who were then paraded on Kadyrov’s social media channels.
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