How a UFC star was banned from entering the United States
The UFC reportedly wanted Khamzat Chimaev to headline UFC 300. However, the Chechen fighter is unable to enter the US due to his connections with warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.
Welcome to Sports Politika, a newsletter and media platform focused on the intersection of sports, power and politics. This newsletter was founded by investigative journalist and researcher Karim Zidan and relies on the support of readers like you.
If you have not done so already, please consider becoming a paid subscriber.
In December 2023, wedged between posts showing solidarity with Palestine, Khamzat Chimaev published a photo of himself standing side-by-side with Ramzan Kadyrov.
“This man helped me return to life, not only for me and the entire Chechen people,” Chimaev wrote in the caption accompanying the photo of the two men smiling while deep in conversation. “I would like to thank him for everything he has done and is doing for us and our people.”
This wasn’t the first time that the UFC star has paid allegiance to Kadyrov, the Chechen dictator whose list of crimes include well-documented purges of sexual minorities, extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, forced conscription, and appalling acts of violence to quell all forms of dissent.
Over the past few years, the Chechen-born Chimaev has emerged as Kadyrov’s favourite fighter, with pictures showing him wining, dining, and training alongside Kadyrov and his family. In exchange for his continued loyalty, Kadyrov has showered Chimaev in gifts, including several Mercedes vehicles, a luxury villa in the Chechen capital of Grozny, and helped facilitate Chimaev’s marriage a few years ago.
Chimaev's persistent endorsement of Kadyrov has stirred discontent within the MMA fanbase. Many of his followers inundate his Instagram comments, repeatedly bringing attention to Kadyrov's human rights violations whenever Chimaev shares a picture of him.
A particularly striking comment on the aforementioned photo read:“Chimaev showing every day why he can’t get a visa and likely won’t be able to fight in the US again...”
The assertion stemmed from an interview released just before UFC 294 last October, during which Chimaev's jiu-jitsu coach Alan Nascimento disclosed that the fighter was encountering difficulties entering the United States. Consequently, Chimaev relocated to the United Arab Emirates in hopes of mitigating his travel challenges.
“[Chimaev] just got a 10-year visa in Abu Dhabi and will apply for a type of passport here in the UAE, something like a citizenship, that could be used for travels,” Nascimento said. “Many Russian athletes are suffering with that. Chechens, Dagestani, Russians in general. But I think things will start to flow for Chimaev soon, and for other athletes too.”
“Sports save lives,” he continued. “To see athletes, people that have never committed any crimes and are just trying to live life in a positive manner and serve as example for the next generations, to pay the price and be unable to work because of problems caused by other people, I don’t think it’s fair. I don’t think it’s right. People might condemn what I’m saying, but what does an athlete have to do with a war started by two people that have nothing to do with sports?”
While Nascimento presented Chimaev as the innocent victim of geopolitical circumstance due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, there is more to the story.