How this warlord is using MMA to build an army

these are some of the most feared soldiers in Russia they're called the kery and they kidnap torture or murder anyone deemed a threat by their leader ramzan kadirov he's the dictator of chia a tiny semi-autonomous Republic in southern Russia and vadir Putin's most loyal Ally in 2022 when Putin invaded Ukraine he needed kadirov help so kadirov gathered his kovy and happily obliged but kadirov also commands the Loyalty of a different kind of fighter mixed martial arts Fighters over the last decade kadirov has built his own influential MMA operation the problem now is some of those

men are in this video preparing to March off to Putin's war in Ukraine this story feels like it is straight out of a movie the relationship between kadir's regime his government his militia and mixed martial arts is indisputable so what exactly is kadirov using MMA for [Music] chin are famous for their Warrior culture something they fostered over centuries of fighting largely against Russia they resisted rule by the Russian Empire starting in the 18th century and they were persecuted under the Soviet Union in the 20th when the Soviet Union collapsed tneo was kept inside the new

Russian Federation but many chin began to fight for independence ramzan kadir's father akmad kadirov was one of them he led a militia called the karavi in 1994 when Russia invaded Chia kadirov and his militia helped repel them in 1999 Russia returned but this time kadirov didn't fight back he was a devout Muslim like most chin but he opposed extremist fundamentalist Fighters that were joining the resistance the Russians convinced him to switch sides and he and his men helped it reconquer Chia [Music] after the war Russian President Vladimir Putin put akmad in charge of chia but

in less than a year chin insurgents assassinated [Music] him the chin Warrior culture was still alive and threatened to drag Russia into a third war so Putin put akmad son ramsan kadirov in power and sent him billions of dollars kadirov used it to rebuild Capital grne into a modern city and turn his karavi into a heavily armed private militia then like many dictators before him kadirov would use a sport to change chin culture to serve him now if you've been a subscriber for search party for a while you know that this is a major theme

Here politicians have always used sports for their own ends but I've yet to cover an example of them using it so directly as what's happening right now in Chia for the story I scoured websites and social media from Chia Russia and dozens of other countries but I was reminded that my information was safe and secure thanks to my incog subscription and I'm thrilled to have incog sponsor this video you may or may not know but there are hundreds of data Brokers out there that take your personal information the kind that you give out on the

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like the chin several other ethnic groups in the caucuses have a similar Warrior culture so it shouldn't come as a surprise that they all share a passion for Combat Sports particularly wrestling some of the best wrestlers in history come from this region but around 2015 kadirov brought a new combat sport to Chia hello ladies and gentlemen you about to see something that you have never seen before the ultimate fighting challenge look at that is [Applause] the birth of modern MMA is often said to be 1993 when the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC was established it

combined elements from several Combat Sports like the Striking of kickboxing to the grappling of wrestling and quickly became extremely popular 2015 particular was the time period where everybody wanted the piece of mixed martial arts so it really was not surprising at all that kadirov took that chance as well you might recognize Kareem I interviewed him last year about Saudi Arabia's Sport washing master plan but he's best known for being one of the first to investigate what kadirov saw in MMA MMA is still the newest of these sport it helps incorporate this idea that no we

are badasses we are Supreme Warriors and that's a great mentality to instill into people that you're trying to completely resocialize around 2015 kadirov established chesa's first MMA gym and named it Fight Club akmed after his father and he soon grew it into a pipeline for developing talented fighters on the first level thousands of chin boys join the gym and learn to fight the most talented are signed to an official team roster where kadiro pays them to train and represent his gym in competitions he also began signing caucus born professional fighters to his team some of

them eventually made it into the UFC the Pinnacle of MMA kadiro began lavishing these Fighters with gifts in exchange for their loyalty he's given his favorite a chin born Superstar named kamza chamv cars homes and even set him up with a wife he wanted to make it clear that if you represent me and if you do well I'm going to change your life forever at the same time Kad began building a reputation for himself as an influential figure of the sport by attending UFC matches and appearing with celebrities kadirov was replacing the traditional chin Warrior

who fought for independence with chin MMA athletes who fought for him and creating a new class at the top of chin Society forget about the old hierarchies there was an entirely new class of individuals being elevated in chin Society based primarily on their prowess as mixed martial arts athletes and loyalty to him and of course his boss now you might be thinking this is just classic sportswashing but what Kareem and others have uncovered is that this pipeline is actually being used to create real hard power as well and that's what's so new about it and

it's what brings us back to the men in this video this is Abu zad bis muradov AKA Patriot he's on this stage because he's a top commander of the karov SE since taking power kadirov has expanded the karov SE into a collection of many par paramilitary units using them to murder torture and detain citizens journalists and even chin abroad this includes the arrest and torture of hundreds of gay chin men in 2017 V murdoff leads at least two katar offy units but it's only one of his jobs he's also the head of Fight Club aan

MC and it's not a coincidence I don't think anything is a coincidence when it comes to ram on kadirov Sam kadirov is only interested in a select few people to emerge from Ahmed MMA who will go on to represent him for that form of States Prestige absolutely everybody else is fair game fair game to be recruited over the last few years kadir's regime has begun funneling men from Fight Club akmed into the karov SE using MMA to fuel his private Army and he's not keeping it a secret Kadir frequently promotes an aked fighter named bessan

usikov because he's also a special forces Soldier and this man with the machine gun is a former UFC fighter who kadirov eventually made Deputy Prime Minister of sport and Youth culture these men represent what kadirov believes is an ideal chin man and what kadirov was really saying was this is a perfect chin for me not only is he willing to fight for me on the battlefield but he is successfully competing for me in the cage as well kadirov is turning chia's young Fighters into loyal soldiers that will help him stay in power and do Vladimir

Putin's dirty work abroad in the 2010s Putin began deploying the karov SE to fight alongside the Russian military in Syria and Ukraine in 2022 he assigned them to join the initial assault on Ukraine's capital keev and according to the Ukrainian government ordered them to assassinate the Ukrainian president which they failed to do but the katari also fought in the bloody Siege of mar opal and are accused of committing war crimes in bcha recent reporting claims the katari are now in charge of disciplining torturing and even executing unmotivated and retreating Russian troops yes using them as

a police force based on their reputation alone makes a lot of sense that's where they have their experience one kovski unit is in charge of holding the nuclear power plant in zapia in 2023 Al jazer released one of their videos and traced this man to an article that identifies him as mmud cusv a former MMA fighter pictured here wearing a Fight Club Amman Jersey as more MMA fighters end up in the kovski the more they put the sport in a difficult position in 2017 the US began placing economic sanctions that Bann its citizens from doing

business with kadirov the kovski and akmad MMA but Fighters linked to kadirov continue to appear in the UFC which is based in the US the UFC claims that all its Fighters are independent contractors and denies any contractual relationship with kadirov or any of his associates under sanctions but it's allowed comes at shamayev to fight in Las Vegas in 2022 Abu Dhabi in 2023 and again this October here he is cele celebrating after the match with none other than Raman kadirov all it did was attempt to circumvent those bans and sanctions by having them compete elsewhere

that ramzan Kadir is a stand on the sport and should be eradicated from the sport entirely the UFC unfortunately does not seem to think so Kadir found a way to use a sport not just for changing a culture or building a reputation but as a tool for real violence and authoritarians everywhere can see how well it's working we will continue to see authoritarians involve themselves in Combat Sports I have no doubts about that all right thanks for watching if you haven't subscribed to search party now is your chance we cover Sports and geopolitics this is

the exact kind of story that I like it's that Perfect Blend of those two topics if you have more ideas like it I'd love to hear about them email me that's Sam search party. CH you can tweet at me or you can comment I read those comments so I'll hear about them let me know what your ideas are I'm filling out the calendar for 2025 as for 2024 we've got one or two more stories and then yeah we'll move on to the next year again subscribe to search party if you haven't yet thanks again everyone

and we'll see you in a couple weeks all right [Music]