Duma member: Emelianenko will pay for his words about Kadyrov’s sons

Duma member Adam Delimkhanov addressed a note on his Instagram account to the head of Russia’s Mixed Martial Arts Union Fedor Emelianenko for the latter’s criticism of a televised children’s mixed martial arts tournament held in Grozny, Chechnya on October 4.

Delimkhanov said that “regardless of who the man may be, [Emelianenko] will have to answer for every word spoken against” the sons of Kadyrov, whom the Duma member calls his nephews.

Delimkhanov did not comment on the fact that young children wear engaged in MMA fighting without protective equipment. Instead, he said that the “moral, ethical, and professional image [of Emelianenko] is one that casts deep doubts [on his validity].”

At the end of his post Delimkhanov said that Emilianenko had hung up on him during their telephone conversation. “Hanging up [like that] you did not have the heart to talk like a normal man. This is a sign of your cowardice,” said Delimkhanov, who is Kadyrov’s cousin.

The Ahmad children’s martial arts tournament was held in Grozny, Chechnya on October 4 on the eve of Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov’s birthday. The tournament was shown on television channel “Match. Boets”. Kadyrov also uploaded segments of the fight to his Instagram account.

The tournament three of Kadyrov’s sons, all of whom won their respective matches. Kadyrov’s ten-year-old Ahmad won the fight by knocking out another child. The children fought without protective equipment.

President of Russia’s Mixed Martial Arts Union and famous fighter Fedor Emelianenko said that children under 12 were not allowed to participate in such fights and that all fighters under 21 were required to wear helmets and knee and elbow pads. Emelianenko called what happened at the tournament in Grozny “unacceptable”.

In turn, Abuzayd Vismuradov, president of Chechen fight club Ahmad said, in regards to Emelianenko’s comments: “The question is, who he is to assess our tournament and fights?”