It’s rare for the big red monster to get political but Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is a horrible human being. This isn’t politics getting in the way of legal MMA in New York or cases of Trump MMA happening in the streets.
Ramzan Kadyrov is the leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya and he has made it his life goal to persecute homosexual Chechen citizens. Horrific systematic killing of his own people is a bullet point on Kadyrov’s LinkedIn profile right next to “huge fan of MMA”.
Kadyrov regularly attends and backs MMA events as well as fighters in his homeland. The Russian warlord is such a big fan of MMA he has even flown in UFC fighters for personal appearances at his home and his MMA events.
The “Chechen leader pays UFC fighter with blood money” beat has been covered thoroughly for years by journalist Karim Zidan. HBO Real Sports did a feature profiling Kadyrov this month, thanks to the legwork of Zidan.
Which brings us to Chris Weidman’s appearance today on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. Fresh off his first UFC win in two years, Weidman was asked by Helwani about his ties to Ramzan Kadyrov; and he pretty much lied to the host’s face.
Weidman says he has no ties with Ramzan Kadyrov, was only brought out to Chechnya for a one-off seminar in 2015. #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/FR8HHWkC3s
— MMAFighting.com (@MMAFighting) July 24, 2017
Weidman claims he didn’t know what Chechnya was and thought he was”just going to Russia.” Claiming ignorance & doesn’t seem apologetic. https://t.co/7ZJdKGiHmb
— Karim Zidan (@ZidanSports) July 24, 2017
Weidman stated he was invited for a seminar. Here are some pictures to keep in mind when listening to his quotes. Does everything add up? pic.twitter.com/euVQ8XupKd
— Karim Zidan (@ZidanSports) July 24, 2017
Feel like Chris Weidman just failed the lie detector test on Maury
