This is one way to “earn” a victory in your professional MMA debut.
Ali Kadyrov, the teenage son of Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov, came away with a first-round TKO win against fellow debuting fighter Islam Akbarov on Friday at ACA 150.
After a jab that knocked Akbarov to the ground, Ali Kadyrov needed only some soft ground-and-pound to have the referee step in and award him the victory with about 2 minutes remaining.
You can watch the finishing sequence in the video below:
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 #ACA150 pic.twitter.com/bPdlJgKJpU
— Pelunaton (@pelunaton) December 23, 2022
The outcome should come as no surprise given that Kadyrov’s warlord father owns the promotion. Kadyrov had Chechnya-born rising UFC star Khamzat Chimaev in his corner. He also trained with former UFC champion Cody Garbrandt ahead of his debut.
Garbrandt became the latest American former UFC champion to associate with the Kadyrovs, this after the U.S. State Department said it was “aware of” growing ties between Ramzan Kadyrov and UFC fighters. Just last month, Henry Cejudo, Justin Gaethje and Kamaru Usman appeared in photos and video shooting guns at a Russian military training center in Chechnya after they were invited by Kadyrov.
Kadyrov first was sanctioned by the U.S. Treasury Department in 2017 over a wide range of human rights violations that include the kidnapping, torture and killing of LGBTQ people. Kadyrov has been a major proponent of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and supplied soldiers to the Russian armed forces, which led to additional sanctions against Kadyrov, his wives, his adult children, and his businesses this past September.
The restrictions are supposed to keep people from doing business with Kadyrov, but that hasn’t discouraged the aforementioned American fighters from associating with him.