here is a photo on Werdum instagram of him and chechen leader Ramzan Kadryov. If you do not know he is the war lord ruler of Chechnya and has a pretty brutal human rights record. In the past A list celebs such as Sandra Bullock have been shamed for performing at his parties for millions of dollars. Is this a risky move for Werdum/ the UFC in general to be associating with a warlord when the general public still views MMA with suspicion? EDIT: Adding some info on Kadryov because apparently sherdog doesn't follow eurasian politics. I think he is a warlord because he defeated the Chechen insurgents for putin with his own personal army. I believe people call them Kadryovites or something along those lines. They are loyal only to him and have no offical position in either the Russian state or chechen republic. He also taxes all Chechens an additional 20% on their wages, which is "donated" to a "philanthropic" foundation named after his father who was originally a chechen insurgent during the first chechen war. This foundation is thought to support his extremely lavish life style. He has also been accused of ordering assassinations inside and outside of Russia including vienna. He essentially built his own castle with a zoo and everything. A documentary I watched made him seem more pablo escobar than legit politician. He also maintains several off the books prisons, including a dungeon in his personal residence. People routinely disappear in chechnya as well. He has created a cult of personality using instagram and traditional soviet tactics such as large images of himself in every public space. He also loves boxing and MMA and is often photographed during boxing practice.
Im pretty sure half of the UFC roster have already hung out with the guy. Chris Weidman was over their not to long ago, IIRC. Edit;
I think he is a warlord because he is a warlord. He defeated the Chechen insurgents for putin with his own personal army. I believe people call them Kadryovites or something along those lines. He also taxes all Chechens an additional 20% on their wages, which is "donated" to a "philanthropic" foundation named after his father who was originally a chechen insurgent during the first chechen war. This foundation is thought to support his extremely lavish life style. He has also been accused of ordering assassinations inside and outside of Russia including vienna. He essentially built his own castle with a zoo and everything. A documentary I watched made him seem more pablo escobar than legit politican.
Are there other dictators and the like associated with MMA other than Kadyrov and that dude from the royal family of Bahrein?
Which guy from bahrain? I know that a younger prince from Abu Dhabi owns 10% of the UFC as well as sponsoring the Abu Dhabi Grappling competition. He is part of a dictatorial family but he himself is not a dictator. Putin is really into MMA and could be considered a dictator but other than that I cannot think of any political figures that try as hard as Kadryov to enmesh themselves into the world of prize fighting.
The UFC has gang/mafia affiliations from the Fertitas, and a rich Arab guy owns part of the UFC and who knows what his family gets up to. The Yakuza influenced some decisions in Pride. Most world leaders are terrorists. It's sad because people don't care about these type of things (Geo-politics). But I feel ya, homie.
I was referring to this guy here: He's from the royal family of Bahrein and apparently was trying to enlist some UFC fighters to his team.
That is the crown prince Khaled Bin Hamad Al Khalifa. As crown prince he will become the leader of the country some day. His family is Sunni while the majority of Bahrain is shiite because it is historically associated with Iran. During the arab spring Bahrain let saudi arabian national guard crush the protests. So its safe to say his family has some skeletons in the closet as well! Apparently he has frankie and khabib on his team which is quite impressive.
The UFC fighter conduct department only has a problem if you use racial slurs online or hang out with murderers. When you kill a hundred thousand plus you're no longer a murderer, you're a political leader and a conqueror. UFC has zero problem with people like that.
Some skeletons in the closet is a little bit of an understatement. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_rights_in_Bahrain
