Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov and his family have attended several UFC events. Apart from the politician’s appearances at UFC events, many fighters have also associated themselves with Kadyrov. One of the most notable UFC stars to be associated with the controversial Chechen leader is Khamzat Chimaev.
In 2022, Borz posted a series of pictures featuring Ramzan Kadyrov’s sons, Ali and Dustum. In those, Khamzat was sparring with the Chechen ruler’s teenage sons. A majority of the pictures showed Kadyrov’s sons landing hard shots on the undefeated UFC fighter. Khamzat also sparred with Ramzan Kadyrov himself, as evidenced by the leader’s social media post.
UFC star Khamzat Chimaev has taken Ramzan Kadyrov's 15-year-old son, Ali, to train with him at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand. Took an entourage of Kadyrov-affiliated fighters as well. pic.twitter.com/w7g5Y1EJE8
— Karim Zidan (@ZidanSports) January 30, 2023
The Chechen ex-pat now appears to be training and mentoring Ali Kadyrov at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket. Karim Zidan took to Twitter to inform fans about this development saying, “UFC star Khamzat Chimaev has taken Ramzan Kadyrov’s 15-year-old son, Ali, to train with him at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand. Took an entourage of Kadyrov-affiliated fighters as well.”
Chimaev started training at the Tiger Muay Thai gym after his dominant showing against li Jinglian at UFC 267. The notorious gym is also used as a training facility by UFC champions Valentina Shevchenko and P4P #1, Alexander Volkanovski. And it seems another undefeated fighter has joined the gym in the form of Ali Kadyrov.
Who are Ali and Dustum Kadyrov? What is their relation to Khamzat Chimaev?
Ali and Dustum Kadyrov are respectively the first and second-born sons of Ramzan Kadyrov. They first gained notoriety after they rag-dolled Chimaev in a sparring session. Kadyrov’s eldest son Ali was spotted alongside him and Dana White at UFC 280.
In October 2022, they entered Mariupol with weapons, all geared up and ready to fight. This is congruent with Kadyrov’s claim that he would send his sons to fight on the frontline against Ukraine. Despite this, Ali made his professional MMA debut in December.
During Ali Kadyrov’s fight at ACA 150, his mentor and now trainer, Khamzat Chimaev was in his corner. He defeated his opponent, Islam Akbarov via TKO in the first round of the bout. But many who watched the bout claimed that this fight and its outcome were fixed. Having trained with UFC fighters like Chimaev and Cody Garbrandt, a win seemed inevitable. But the match-fixing allegations will somewhat taint this dominant showing.
Ali’s brother, Dustum, trained with Khamzat as well but has not taken up MMA as a profession yet. However, being a teenager, he has plenty of time to re-evaluate his options and join his brother and Chimaev as professional mixed martial artists.
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