Longtime MMA patron Ramzan Kadyrov has been in the news a ton lately thanks to the war Russia is waging on Ukraine.
He’s also a huge MMA fan and supporter. Kadyrov recently facilitated peace between Dagestan’s UFC alumni and Khamzat Chimaev but he didn’t stop there either. He also invited three other UFC stars to visit his country.
The three were spotted testing out guns at a special forces facility in Gudermes.
A video of Chimaev playfully sparring the Chechen dictator resurfaced and went viral again with MMA commentator Luke Thomas calling it ‘sad’, meanwhile Michael Bisping and Terrance McKinney defended the clip.
Bisping defended the clip saying:
“Hey luke. Hope all is well. Wouldn’t say it’s sad. I think it’s more being respectful. He’s not gonna go 100 percent on a none pro, an elder and the leader of the country. I wouldn’t either. Unless of course he chatted some s**t!”
Thomas clarified his comment saying:
“Yeah, I’m being a bit facetious. Just remarking on the song and dance Khamzat has to go through for Kadyrov.”
But this is where UFC vet, Tim Kennedy weighed in. Kennedy is a former member of the UFC, Green Beret, and Special Forces Ranger.
Kennedy was also an early supporter of unionization efforts in MMA going so far as to acknowledge UFC’s abusive pay scale. He ended up making an astute observation:
“Let me get this right… It’s totally fine that the UFC controls what a fighter wears on his shorts, whether or not they train with James Kraus, or what they do on their social media, but it’s totally fine for them to train with a terrorist.”
Dana White has maintained himself as a fan of freedom of speech in post Endeavor UFC but this wasn’t always the case. UFC is certainly in a problematic position with a substantial part of the roster hailing out of Russia.
Earlier last year, UFC instituted an universal ban on Flags across the border as to not attract attention for countless Russian athletes they’re featuring. The ban goes so far that it even forbids athletes from wearing bandanas with their flag on them – and there’s a hefty penalty involved.
It’s certainly interesting to observe UFC’s attempt to vilify (coach) James Krause and oust him from the sport before he’s even proven guilty for betting impropriety in a court of law wile they turn a blind eye to a man that’s been sanctioned since 2017 for his human rights violations.