UFC title contender Khamzat Chimaev was in the corner to help Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov's son Ali to a first round win in his MMA debut.
The fighter was in Moscow to support the 16-year-old Kadyrov, with whom he has been training at the Akhmat MMA fight club for the past few months. The Chechen leader's son had boxed in an exhibition bout last year, and decided to make the transition as just a teenager for his first professional outing.
Kadyrov was backed by a Chechen flag with his father's face on it as he made his first walk to the cage to face fellow debuting fighter Islam Akbarov. The 17-year-old managed to stuff an early takedown and land a few kicks, but was clipped around two minutes into the bout and despite recovering with a takedown, was unable to do any significant damage.
About halfway through the round, Akbarov attempted a takedown, but was met by a kick that didn't even really land and fell back, allowing Kadyrov to take control. The Chechen fighter showed off ground-and-pound that wouldn't be out of place in a WWE ring, and without doing seemingly any damage at all, as his opponent was moving and defending himself, the referee waved off the fight.
Chimaev celebrate with Kadyrov, jumping on top of the cage and hugging him after he had done a backflip off the cage that was arguably more impressive than any of his fighting offence. He took to social media to further pay tribute to his friend, writing a lengthy message in the caption of a picture showing Kadyrov winning.
He wrote: "I wholeheartedly congratulate my dear brother, grandson of the First President of the Cechen Republic, Hero of Russia Akhmat-Hadzha Kadyrov, representative of the Republican sports club 'Akhmat' Ali Kadyrov with a bright victory in the ASA 150 tournament!
What do you make of Khamzat Chimaev's involvement with the Kadyrov family? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
"Debuting in MMA in a duel with Islam Akbarov in Moscow, Ali demonstrated excellent fighting skills and will to win by sending his opponent off in the first round. I sincerely wish Ali good health, further success in sports! Akhmat-Force! Allah is the greatest!" The post received positive comments from the likes of Cody Garbrandt and Darren Till
However, many fans mocked Chimaev for his involvement in the bout, with one writing "Bro you’re trapped in something you can’t get out of, and it’s sad to see". Another added in Russian "At first I respected Khamzat, now no, he's just a nanny of Kadyrov's children."
The elder Kadyrov is known to have a considerable influence on MMA with serious ties to a number of big-name fighters, has received backlash from LGBTQ+ groups around the world for leading anti-gay purges in Chechnya, as well as imposing misogynist policies in the Republic. He is also known as a close ally of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
