HBO’s Real Sports documentary on Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov airs this Tuesday, July 18th. The show is set to examine the dictator’s relationship to combat sports and the ways in which he uses athletes and athletic competition to strengthen his political power in his home country.

While the piece promises to touch on numerous points, including Kadyrov’s reported purges of gay men – something he claims he hasn’t done, but would do if there were gay men in Chechnya – it also examines his relationship to the UFC.

With the recent signing of Magomed Bibulatov (as well as Kadyrov’s relationship with Fabricio Werdum), the Dictator already has ties to the world’s largest MMA organization. But, during his interview with Real Sports, Kadyrov issued a challenge to the UFC, one aimed at elevating the status of Chechnya’s Akhmat fight team.

“We propose that UFC and Akhmat face off in a tournament,” Kadyrov told HBO. “And we’ll see who has the strongest fighters. I think it would be quite a spectacle. They would fight to the end. A fight to the death.”
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“Our motto is: ‘Death is better than second place.’ We will bring all your belts from America back to Grozny.”

Something tells me it’s not a challenge the UFC will be accepting anytime soon. In the meantime, however, as Akhmat Fight Club and Chechnya continue to produce elite level talent in the MMA world, it’s likely that the UFC and it’s fighters will continue their unfortunate relationship with Ramzan Kadyrov.

Tune in to HBO at 10 p.m. eastern and pacific (9 central) for Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, featuring Bloody Elbow’s own Karim Zidan. You can check out more clips from the show below: