On October 4, 2016, Chechnya’s strongman leader Ramzan Kadyrov hosted an MMA event to celebrate his upcoming 40th birthday. As part of the festivities, he assigned fights for his three sons, 11-year-old Akhmad, 9-year-old Zelimkhan, and 8-year-old Adam. The three youngsters, the heaviest of which was 37kg, even participated in the pre-fight weigh-in ceremony, including the posturing theatrics that occasionally accompany the more official task of making weight.
Less than 24 hours later, all three children stepped into the cage wearing only shorts and 6oz gloves—they donned no rash guard, no padding, nor protective headgear. Accompanied by various members of the Akhmat Fight Club like UFC fighter Abdel-Kerim Edilov, the three princes won their respective fights.