Chechnya’s Fight Club Joins Putin’s War

Ramzan Kadyrov is the head of the Chechen Republic, one of Vladimir Putin's closest allies, and a man who has built one of the most brutal regimes on Earth. He rules Chechnya through strict Islamic law, assassinations, and a terrifying obsession with Mixed Martial Arts. Kadyrov founded Fight Club Akhmat, pouring millions into training fighters who go on to compete in the UFC and fight on the frontlines in Ukraine. He's forced his own children into MMA bouts with no protective gear, handed medals to his teenage son for beating prisoners, and sent hundreds of MMA-trained soldiers to commit war crimes abroad. From the Chechen Wars to the invasion of Ukraine, this is the story of how Ramzan Kadyrov rose from teenage militia fighter to modern warlord, and how he uses cage fighting to build one of the most dangerous military forces in the world. In this video, A Day In History covers Kadyrov's rise to power after his father's assassination, the human rights abuses that define his regime including the persecution of gay Chechens, his bizarre relationship with Vladimir Putin, and how MMA became the backbone of his war machine. This is the full story of the MMA Warlord. #RamzanKadyrov #ww3 #darkhistory Sources: Åsne Seierstad, Angel of Grozny: Inside Chechnya, (2007), translated by Nadia Christensen ‘Austrian Court Convicts Chechens Over Dissident’s Death’, BBC News, 1st June 2011, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-13621483 Karim Zidan, ‘Chechnya’s Fight Club Joins Putin’s War’, Newslines Magazine, 23rd March 2022, https://newlinesmag.com/reportage/chechnyas-fight-club-joins-putins-war/ James Michael Nichols, ‘Chechen President: ‘We Don’t Have Any Gays… Take Them From Us’’, Huffpost, 15th July 2017, https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/chechen-president-we-dont-have-gays_n_59690d08e4b0d6341fe8ad95 Mark Galeotti, Russia’s Wars in Chechnya, 1994-2009, (2014 Copyright © 2025 A Day In History. All rights reserved. DISCLAIMER: All materials in these videos are used for entertainment purposes and fall within the guidelines of fair use. No copyright infringement intended. If you are, or represent, the copyright owner of materials used in this video, and have an issue with the use of said material, please send an email to adayinhistory2021@gmail.com