Son of Chechen leader Kadyrov wins MMA debut

Ali Kadyrov won his mixed martial arts debut by first-round TKO

Ali Kadyrov, the son of Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, was successful in his mixed martial arts debut at the ACA 150 fight card in Moscow on Friday inside the CSKA Arena.

Kadyrov, who was cornered by unbeaten UFC sensation Khamzat Chimaev, defeated opponent Islam Akbarov with a sequence of unanswered strikes on the ground after forcing his opponent to the canvas early in the contest. 

It was there where Kadyrov uncorked a barrage of punches, with Akbarov offering little resistance other than attempting to shield his head, prompting the referee to wave off the bout after determining that Akbarov was no longer intelligently defending himself.

Kadyrov had spent time training alongside Chimaev, and was also recently pictured at his own birthday party alongside well-known UFC fighters such as Kamaru Usman and Justin Gaethje. 

He was also seen with former UFC champion Cody Garbrandt, with whom he is understood to have trained alongside in Dubai. 

Chimaev, who was born in Chechnya, has been a longtime supporter of Ali Kadyrov, and has been photographed with the budding MMA fighter and his father on several occasions – as well as helping to train Kadyrov in the past.

“My dear younger brother Ali Kadyrov,” Chimaev wrote on Instagram ahead of the bout.

“Brother, I know how hard you've been training and how great shape you're in.”

READ MORE: US weighs in on Kadyrov ‘ties’ to UFC fighters

UFC star Darren Till, a close friend of Chimaev’s, also commented with a heart emoji on a video publicizing Kadyrov’s fight, while Alexander Gustafsson, the bespoke leader of the AllStars gym, also liked the same social media message.