Justin Gaethje is dealing with some on-line backlash following a current journey to Chechnya on the behest of the republic’s dictator Ramzan Kadyrov.
It started when the previous UFC interim light-weight champion discovered himself in a back-and-forth with Dave Portnoy, the founding father of sports activities and popular culture weblog Barstool Sports activities. Gaethje accused Barstool of “bending over” for Paddy Pimblett, a Barstool-sponsored fighter who was victorious within the controversial UFC 282 co-main occasion on Saturday. Portnoy then responded by claiming that Gaethje “helps a warlord.”
As reported by BloodyElbow, Gaethje, together with former UFC champs Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo had been pictured testing firearms on the Russian Particular Forces College in Chechnya final month.
Footage confirmed the previous champions testing out grenade launchers and assault rifles on the facility, which is primarily used to coach troopers participating in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov posted a video of former UFC champs Kamaru Usman, Justin Gaethje and Henry Cejudo firing grenade launchers and assault rifles at a particular forces facility in Chechnya—a facility that trains Russian troopers for the nation’s invasion of Ukraine pic.twitter.com/BxioliBXp4
— Karim Zidan (@ZidanSports) November 27, 2022
The fighters later attended a party for one in all Kadyrov’s teenage sons.
Regardless of the varied images and movies figuring out the previous champs in Chechnya, Gaethje was fast to disclaim Portnoy’s accusation, referring to it as an “outright lie and slander.” He additionally claimed that Portnoy was trying to get him “canceled.”
Nevertheless, when followers started bombarding Gaethje with photos and movies of his current journey to Chechnya, he ultimately admitted that he attended Kadyrov’s son’s party and that he likes to “shoot weapons.”
In December 2020, the U.S. Division of the Treasury prohibited folks doing enterprise in america from interacting with a number of companies owned by Kadyrov, together with his combined martial arts fitness center, Akhmat MMA.
The Treasury’s Workplace of International Property Management cited “extrajudicial killing, torture, or different gross violations” among the many causes for sanctioning Kadyrov.
