Khamzat Chimaev continues to draw attention to his ongoing relationship with Ramzan Kadyrov, the dictator accused of human rights abuses ranging from forced disappearances and assassinations to an ongoing purge of Chechnya’s LGBTQ+ community.
The UFC star was recently pictured training alongside two of Kadyrov’s teenage sons during a recent trip to the United Arab Emirates. Several of the photos shared by the teenagers on social media also showed them training alongside other members of the Allstars Training Center from Sweden.
The training sessions took place at the TKMMAFIT gym in Dubai. The facility is owned and operated by Tam Khan, a British fighter-turned-entrepreneur of Afghan descent. Khan has previously met with Kadyrov and hosted Irish crime lord Daniel Kinahan at his gym earlier this year.
This is not the first time that Chimaev has been spotted with Kadyrov’s children. In October, the UFC standout posted pictures of his sparring session with the teenagers and also attended UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi alongside them.
It is worth noting that the U.S. Treasury issued sanctions in 2017 that blocked U.S. citizens and people present in the United States from doing business with Kadyrov. Some of his businesses were later punished in 2020, including his ACA fight league and his Akhmat MMA fight clubs.
While Kadyrov’s sons have not been sanctioned, it is worth noting that prior to attending UFC 280, the teenagers were sent to Mariupol, the occupied Ukrainian port city destroyed by Russian forces, to take part in propaganda photo-ops to boast Kadyrov’s ongoing participation in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Footage showed the teenagers firing grenade launchers and assault rifles from behind camouflaged bushes in an undisclosed location. They later returned to Chechnya after supposedly capturing three Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs), who were then paraded on Kadyrov’s social media channels.
Chimaev’s latest jaunt with Kadyrov’s teenage sons in Dubai took place in the wake of reports that vocal critic of Kadyrov’s regime had been killed shortly after going missing in Sweden.
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