UFC maintains links with Russian fighters and fighters connected to sanctioned Chechen warlord...

LTC Eugene Chu
"The video looks like a gun advertisement – on steroids. Shot in the style of a music video, with quick edits and a pulsating beat, three athletic looking men test fire a variety of machine guns, rocket launchers, assault rifles and handguns.

Surrounded by bearded soldiers in military gear, the three men are shown smiling and laughing, seemingly having a good time. Except, this is not your run-of-the-mill gun range outing.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighters Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje and Henry Cejudo are the trio in a video posted online by the notorious Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov in November last year, celebrating their visit to his compound in Russia to see “how real men and defenders of the Fatherland learn to fight.”

Kadyrov is a former warlord known for his brutality and for his allegiance to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

He has routinely been criticized for alleged human rights violations including killings, torture and disappearances, his treatment of the LGBTQ community and has also expressed his support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine."...