A number of months in the past, a trio of former UFC champions visited Chechnya on the behest of the republic’s strongman chief, Ramzan Kadyrov.
Former UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, former flyweight champion Henry Cejudo, and former interim light-weight champion Justin Gaethje had been pictured on the Russian Particular Forces College in Chechnya, which is used to coach Russia’s particular forces items getting ready to participate within the nation’s warfare on Ukraine.
Footage later posted on the dictator’s social media accounts confirmed the previous champions testing out assault rifles and different weapons of warfare on the facility. In a single shot, Gaethje fired an RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher at a distant goal earlier than turning to the digicam to flex his muscle groups with a smile etched throughout his face.
“The [fighters] actually bought loads of constructive feelings from visiting Russia,” Kadyrov mentioned in a caption accompanying the video. “Now they need to invite different UFC fighters to hitch us in order that athletes can watch how actual males and defenders of the Fatherland be taught to battle.”
Usman, Gaethje and Cejudo later attended a birthday celebration for Kadyrov’s teenage son Adam, whom weeks earlier had been despatched to Mariupol, the occupied Ukrainian port metropolis destroyed by Russian forces, to participate in propaganda photo-ops along with his brothers whereas dressed as troopers. He later returned to Chechnya with Ukrainian prisoners of warfare that they handed to Kadyrov as a “present.”
Whereas the controversial footage drew the eye of mainstream shops and the usState Division and raised questions on whether or not the fighters violated worldwide sanctions, two of the three champions are scheduled to headline Saturday’s UFC 286 occasion in London, England.
Usman is ready to face welterweight champion Leon Edwards within the UFC 286 major occasion whereas Gaethje will meet fellow knockout specialist Rafael Fiziev within the co-main occasion slot. Their involvement within the occasion cements the notion that neither competitor will face any repercussions for his or her actions. As an alternative, they’ve been rewarded with marquee match-ups.
And whereas the unusual journey marked the primary time that Cejudo and Gaethje visited Chechnya, it was Usman’s third journey to the semi-autonomous republic in Russia, and his second for the reason that U.S. Treasury Division issued sanctions focusing on Kadyrov’s combined martial arts empire.
In November 2020, Usman—then welterweight champion—visited Chechnya for the primary time to attend Adam Kadyrov’s birthday celebration and to spar with him and his brothers in a non-public coaching session. Footage confirmed Usman joking round with Kadyrov’s sons within the dictator’s personal gymnasium and chanting the phrase “Akhmat Sila”—a battlecry which interprets to “Akhmat Energy” and which is in style amongst Kadyrov loyalists.
The welterweight champion returned to Chechnya in November 2021—almost a 12 months after the Treasury Division cracked down on Kadyrov’s battle membership— to as soon as once more attend Adam’s birthday celebration. Regardless of his repeated visits, Usman has refused to reply questions on his obvious ties to Kadyrov and his household.
Gaethje, then again, admitted to attending Adam’s birthday celebration in November 2022. He additionally acknowledged that he visited the Russian Particular Forces College, including that he likes to “shoot weapons.”
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