adding that the UAE is keen to strengthen aspects of cooperation with the Chechen Republic under the support of its leadership.

Since Kadyrov is now fundraising from rich monarchies in the Middle East, his appearance at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi is another example of sports diplomacy being used as a tool to increase bilateral relations. He made a similar gesture by attending the IMMAF World Championships of Amateur MMA in Manama, Bahrain alongside Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Chairman of the Supreme Council for Youth and Sports and President of Bahrain Olympic Committee, and Sheikh Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Honorary President of the Bahrain Mixed Martial Arts Federation (BMMAF) and the founder of MMA promotion Brave CF and fight club KHK MMA.

Apart from using UFC242 as an opportunity to strengthen ties and enhance bilateral relations with the UAE, it was also a chance for Kadyrov to rebrand himself and his republic to his neighbours in the North Caucasus.

Kadyrov’s Dagestan Problem

In September 2018, Kadyrov and Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the (now former) leader of Ingushetia, Chechnya’s western neighbour, signed an agreement securing the border between the two Russian republics. While the deal was promoted as “historic,” it included the transfer of 10% of Ingush territory to Chechnya, thus increasing the republic’s size and land at the expense of its neighbour.

As a result, unprecedented protests broke out in Ingushetia, lasting several months and growing in size until Yevkurov finally resigned on June 24, 2019. However, the Russian Constitutional Court ruled that the border agreement between Ingushetia