Justin Gaethje denies association with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov despite picture and video proof
Justin Gaethje and Dave Portnoy recently engaged in a Twitter exchange after the founder of the sports and pop culture blog Barstool Sports questioned Gaethje's association with Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.
Gaethje initially accused Portnoy of favoritism towards Paddy Pimblett, the recipient of a seven-figure sponsorship deal with Barstool Sports. This was despite the general consensus that the Scouser lost his UFC 282 bout against Jared Gordon.
"This makes the barstool guys look really bad," Gaethje wrote. "Just bending over for the lad. Fight of the night? Barstool can give him 50k but that performance will never get you a bonus in the octagon."
This makes the barstool guys look really bad. Just bending over for the lad. Fight of the night? Barstool can give him 50k but that performance will never get you a bonus in the octagon. twitter.com/stoolpresident…
Portnoy, in his defense, harked back to the time when Justin Gaethje, Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo were spotted in Chechnya with the leader of the Chechen republic, Ramzan Kadyrov.
Former UFC champs Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo, along with Justin Gaethje, are all currently in Chechnya at the invitation of the republic's warlord Ramzan Kadyrov.
Here they are testing out guns at a special forces facility in Gudermes. https://t.co/lJIm8kBHRS
Dave Portnoy replied:
"People are telling me @Justin_Gaethje was recently seen hanging out with a warlord accused of brutal crimes against humanity so its hypocritical for him to say we look bad for supporting Paddy when he supports a warlord. I'm gonna take high road + not mention it."
People are telling me @Justin_Gaethje was recently seen hanging out with a warlord accused of brutal crimes against humanity so its hypocritical for him to say we look bad for supporting Paddy when he supports a warlord. I’m gonna take high road + not mention it. #daveyhighroad twitter.com/justin_gaethje…
In response, Gaetje simply called the accusations an "outright lie."
"That’s an outright lie and slander. #davesab**ch"
@stoolpresidente That’s an outright lie and slander. #davesabitch
@stoolpresidente Never met the guy. Go Fuck yourself
Gaethje went on to add that he was in Chechnya for a kid's birthday party, suggesting that the allegations hurled at him lacked substantial evidence.
@cjenkins195 @A_Vizak @BarstoolBigCat @0urchiefs Are you saying all Russians look alike? Went for the kids birthday party. I also like to shoot guns.
Justin Gaethje's manager wants him to face Conor McGregor next
Justin Gaethje's manager, Ali Abdelaziz, is lobbying for 'The Highlight' to be UFC superstar Conor McGregor's first fight upon his highly anticipated octagon return.
McGregor, who broke his leg in a TKO loss to Dustin Poirier in July 2021, is currently out of USADA's drug testing pool. He would need to be in it for at least six months before competing again.
UFC star Conor McGregor is not in the USADA drug-testing pool and will likely have to be for six months before returning to the Octagon, USADA told ESPN on Saturday. More on this coming to @espnmma.
Speaking with The Schmo in a recent interview, Abdelaziz exhorted Gaethje to fight Conor McGregor next, before claiming that 'The Notorious' would avoid that challenge:
“I would like to see Justin Gaethje destroy Conor McGregor and put him in a wheelchair. It doesn’t matter, any weight. He can take all the steroids he wants. He can take all the juice, EPO, everything. I would like to see this fight, but we know he doesn’t like tough fights anymore. He wants easy fights. He’s probably not going to fight Justin Gaethje.”
Catch Abdelaziz's comments below: