In one of the strangest MMA stories of the year, on October 4, Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyroventered his sons Akhmad, Eli, and Adam in fights that broadcast on national television in Russia. The problem is Akhmad is ten years old, Eli in nine, and Adam is eight. To the astonishment of no one, all of his sons won.

Great success!

To appreciate what happened, you have to understand that sports are a means of exerting power in many present-day and former Communist countries. Further, Chechnya is a Muslim-majority Russian republic that suffered terrible wars of succession in 1994-1996 and 1999-2000. It’s sort of like Alabama in 1880.

Kadyrov was a warlord who in 2007 received support from Russian president Vladimir Putin and became Chechenya’s Great Leader or Dear Leader or Dr. Leader or whatever the cult of personality title du jour is. The two do not always see eye to eye, but are not nearly so far apart that it is worth going to war over.

Mixed martial arts in Russia is regulated by the Russian MMA Union, which is headed by the greatest heavyweight in MMA history, Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor enjoys a high-profile friendship with Russia president Vladimir Putin, arguably the most powerful man in the world.

And Fedor was not impressed with the children fighting.

Needless to say that kids under age of 12 cannot even attend MMA fights [in Russia] as spectators,” posted Fedor. “But here we had little ones as young as eight beating each other up in front of happy adults.”

Numerous supporters of Kadyrov defended him and cast aspersions on Fedor. Chechen politician Adam Delimkhanov threatened that Fedor “will have to answer for every word.” Delimkhanov is wanted by Dubai in connection with the murder of Chechen warlord Sulim Yamadayev.

Kadyrov then requested that his followers stop their criticism of Fedor, and, not surprisingly, they did.

Days later Fedor’s 16-year-old daughter was attacked by unknown assailants. A kick reportedly left a contusion of her chest and abdomen. There was widespread speculation – with no proof – that Kadyrov was behind the attack.

The dictator issued a strong denial, via the official government website chechnya.gov.ru. Kadyrov suggested that it was not random street violence, but an attack designed to drive a wedge between Chechnya and the rest of Russia.

A meeting was held on October 18 that included members of the Ministry of Sports, Ministry of the Chechen Republic for Physical Culture and Sport, the Russian Union of Martial Arts, among others, to discuss the issue. Fedor was not present.

Kadyrov has received international condemnation for alleged human rights violations including murder, torture, and corruption. To that list, you can add he has now been reprimanded publicly via a stern letter for putting his underage sons in an unregulated MMA event.

The Russian MMA Union determined that the Akhmat MMA promotion he funded had violated regulations and must henceforth no longer host underage fights. Akhmat MMA broke rules that a child must be at least 12 to compete in MMA, and must wear protective gear until the age of 18. Further, the October 4 event was unlicensed without regulatory oversight. Going forward, Akhmat MMA was directed to coordinate with the relevant Russian regulatory bodies to prevent a repeat occurrence.

There has been widespread condemnation of the youths fighting atAkhmat MMA, but the issue is more complex than it appears.

USA Boxing, the organizing group for the Olympics in the USA, allows 8, 9, and 10-year-olds to box, albeit with headgear, and some restrictions. They cannot be in advancing tournaments for example, and 8-year-olds cannot box with 10-year-olds.

In Thailand, an estimated 100,000 kids under age 16 actively participate in Muay Thai, with fighters as young as seven going for knockouts without headgear.

From an injury perspective, the children in the Chechen event did not appear to take more damage than is seen in a USA Boxing PeeWee Division, and took way less damage than the gambling fueled events in Thailand. There was, however, more than the potential for injury that made the event distasteful.

MMA worldwide has come up with a more modern, safer, humane overall rule set than that in use in boxing. Unlike boxing and Muay Thai, children are everywhere prohibited from competing in full MMA, and it is good that that remains the case.

H/T Karim Zidan for BE