Just a few short days after Fedor Emelianenko condemned Ramzan Kadyrov’s World Fighting Championships of Akhmat (WFCA) promotion for hosting child MMA fights, the heavyweight legend’s 16-year-old daughter was attacked on her way home from school in Moscow.
While most media directed their suspicion towards the Chechen dictator and his loyal supporters, a spokesperson for Russian President Vladimir Putin urged not to jump to hasty conclusions.
“We have informed the President about the media reports, Dmitry Peskov, a representative of the Kremlin, told the state-run TASS outlet. “In general, an attack on a child is totally unacceptable and requires decisive action to identify the person who carried out the attack. But in this case I would recommend to avoid any associations, any parallels, or some sort of suspicion until it has been established who committed [the assault].”
Peskov’s cautious approach likely relates to how volatile the situation is. Fedor’s comments directed at the Chechen dictator were met with threats, insults, and attempts of public humiliation from fighters like UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov and WSOF champ Magomed Bibulatov. Fedor was even threatened personally by State Duma rep Adam Delimkhanov, who claimed the heavyweight will be “held responsible for his words against Kadyrov’s children.”
This eventually subsided when Kadyrov called for all Chechens to stop sending Fedor negative messages because he is “certain that Fedor realized his mistakes.”
On Wednesday, Chairman of the Youth Union of the Chechen Republic, Rustam Tapaev, declared his readiness to join the search for the unidentified assailants who attacked Emelianenko’s daughter.
“I do not think that the attack is related to the situation, because no normal, adequate person will never be the girl to use brute force. I think it’s a coincidence that happened at the wrong time, an unpleasant incident.”
Peskov added that he found the news particularly disturbing because Emelianenko, who also serves as the president of the Russian MMA Union, is his friend. “Fedor – a very good friend of mine, and I have great respect for him. When a friend’s daughter is attacked, it is very disturbing, very unpleasant.”
Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Sports announced that it will review Kadyrov’s child MMA fights and come to a decision on October 18.