For more than 100 years, Chechnya’s land has been marred by violence. For instance, in 1858, it was conquered by Russia after the defeat of Imam Shamil, who had aimed to establish an Islamic state, per BBC. In 1922, the Chechen autonomous region was established, but by 1944, the Soviet’s Stalin deported the Chechen and Ingush populations to Siberia and Central Asia and alleged their collaboration with Nazi Germany and thousands lost their lives.

In the current times, Ramzan Kadyrov is the Chechen president and is known to have a close bond with Khamzat Chimaev. The UFC fighter was born in Chechnya but moved to Sweden as a teenager. But he hasn’t forgotten his roots. In 2021, when he was an upcoming UFC star, he spoke about his childhood and how he grew up with wars happening around him.

“I grew up in my religion, some small village, like yeah. It was a tough time when I was young. I remember that stuff as was after the war. I come to this world when it’s world war and yeah, it was a hard time without food,” he stated. Though he didn’t specify which war, the 90s witnessed a lot of blood being spilled in Chechnya.

Similarly, Dagestan, where Khabib Nurmagomedov hails from, has been a volatile region. In fact, there have been tensions between Dagestan and Chechnya because of historical, ethnic, and political differences. And these tensions pushed a fan to pose a question to Chimaev.

“Salam Khamzat, I want to know something, why Dagestan and Chechnya don’t respect each other?” the fan questioned on Instagram, under one of Chimaev’s latest reels.

In response, Chimaev wrote, “Do not break the bond between each other, do not turn your back, do not harbor hatred, and do not be jealous of each other. O slaves of Allah, be brothers. It is not allowed for a Muslim to be angry with his religious brother for more than three days.” 

While Khamzat Chimaev claimed to have no beef with the people of Dagestan, he did have a scuffle with a few of them in the past. And that happened with none other than Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Recalling Khamzat Chimaev’s scuffle with Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team

Khamzat Chimaev can often lose his temper now and then, and at UFC 280 (2022), it was quite evident.

The star was embroiled in a physical altercation with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov. Before things descended into chaos, security stepped in to break the scuffle. Chimaev and ‘The Eagle’ would settle their differences, but Nurmagomedov claimed that he was “tired of this nonsense.”

“To tell the truth, we’re tired of this nonsense,” Khabib Nurmagomedov stated back in 2022. “Here we are, gathered together as brothers; talked to each other, and we apologized to each other and hugged. Inshallah. I hope that in the future we will only gather for good reasons and fight for good reasons.”

Meanwhile, there were also reports that Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov had to intervene to settle the dispute between Khamzat Chimaev and Khabib Nurmagomedov. ‘The Eagle’ would even share a post on social media, claiming that the whole issue was just “a small misunderstanding.”

But let us not forget that Chimaev once said he would ‘smash’ Nurmagomedov. However, he was apologetic about saying that, and in 2021, he clarified, “Some guy write something about me like, ‘Khabib going to smash you,’ and I answer for this guy, but it was my wrong because I answer to this bull—t guy that nobody knows. I answer him if he wants to smash me, I’m going to smash him, too. (I answered) like this because I’m a real man and I’m going to answer like that. If somebody says he’ll smash you, what do you want me to say?”

“He said, ‘Khabib going to smash you,’ and in my head, if somebody says he’s going to smash you, of course I’m going to answer, ‘Nobody is going to smash me. I’m going to smash everybody.’”

Interesting Fact: Did you know that Khamzat Chimaev was dubbed as ‘Evil Khabib’ during his early UFC days? It was because of his similarity in appearance with ‘The Eagle’ but also the pride he showed in contrast to Nurmagomedov’s humility.

What do you have to say about Khamzat Chimaev’s response to the fan about the Dagestan-Chechnya relations? Drop your comments below.