UFC’ Justin Gaethje admits attending a birthday for Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov’s son

Former UFC interim lightweight champion Justin Gaethje has publicly acknowledged a photograph of himself attending a birthday party for Ramzan Kadyrov’s teenage son, but has denied meeting the sanctioned Chechen Republic leader and Vladimir ally. Putin.

“Never met the guy,” Gaethje wrote in a tense Twitter exchange with Barstool Sports president Dave Portnoy.

However, when presented with a tweet from a few weeks ago showing him shooting guns with Russian soldiers in Chechnya ‘at the invitation’ of Kadyrov, Gaethje seemed to acknowledge the controversial trip: ‘I went to the children’s birthday party (sic) . I also like to shoot guns.

The meeting is part of a growing number of problematic connections between Kadyrov and UFC fighters, something the promotion of mixed martial arts has discouraged due to US sanctions in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The UFC says it has no business relationship with Kadyrov and insists it has followed US law.

Nevertheless, The New York Times reports that US government officials are aware of links between the UFC fighters and Kadyrov, the strongman who first faced Treasury sanctions in 2017 amid allegations of human rights violations including kidnapping and murder of LGBTQ people in the Chechen Republic.

In November, Gaethje and fellow former UFC champions Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo were photographed testing weapons at the Russian Special Forces University in Chechnya, where many soldiers are trained before being sent to the war front in Ukraine.

Kadyrov also posted video footage of the three grenade launchers and assault rifles firing. The 46-year-old, often known as “Putin’s attack dog”, has helped supply soldiers for Russian forces in Ukraine and encouraged the Kremlin to use an allegedly low-yield nuclear weapon in the ongoing war.

The three fighters attended a birthday party for one of Kadyrov’s teenage sons, according to the Times. Usman has reportedly visited Chechnya twice since the Treasury Department placed sanctions on one of Kadyrov’s businesses, Akhmat MMA, a gym that has produced a number of UFC fighters, including UFC rising star Khamzat Chimaev.

In fact, Chimaev was photographed ringside at UFC 280 in the United Arab Emirates with two of Kadyrov’s sons in October. Additionally, both Chimaev and one of Kadyrov’s sons were photographed fighting with UFC President Dana White. That image has since surfaced on Instagram.

Perhaps worst of all, Chimaev was seen working out with Kadyrov in a training video in May.

In its statement to the Times, the UFC said it “does not have any contractual relationship or business dealings with Ramzan Kadyrov.” The promotion admitted that its hundreds of fighters are independent contractors, “who have control over many aspects of their careers, including where they train or where they live when they’re not competing.”

The UFC has prohibited its fighters from working with Akhmat MMA.

The recent Treasury sanctions against Kadyrov specifically mentioned his connections to MMA fighters, adding that he helped recruit fighters for the war in Ukraine through his gyms.

“With that specifically noted in the designation, it will be very interesting to see what happens with his MMA associates,” Shahroo Yazdani, an attorney who specializes in Treasury sanctions, told the Times. “We may see more fighters detained at airports and potentially even more designations related to those who work with their MMA club.”

Kadyrov has even bragged about his access to MMA stars, once writing on Instagram that he “personally” helped mediate a disagreement between Chimaev and former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Later, one of Kadyrov’s militia chiefs, Abuzayed Vismuradov, posted a photo of Chimaev and Nurmagomedov to show that the dispute was resolved. Another UFC fighter, Islam Makhachev, is also seen in the image.

Some problems may have already arisen for Russian MMA fighters.

In November, one of the Akhmat MMA athletes named Maxim Grishin abruptly canceled his upcoming fight. He later told a Russian news agency that he had trouble getting a visa for the fight.

Grishin revealed that he was warned about associating with Kadyrov.

“I was told that it is better not to associate with the Akhmat Fight Club, of which I am a representative,” Grishin told Match TV. ‘But this is not just a contract, we have brotherly relations. I considered him cowardly. Sport is separate from politics, why should it hide anything? I don’t do anything bad to the universe, why should the universe do bad things to me?

The UFC declined to answer questions from the Times about Grishin.

Also, an agent representing Usman, Gaethje, Cejudo and Ankalaev did not respond to The Times’ request for comment.