Hamas in the Ultimate Fighting Championship
The UFC has been playing with fire, or more precisely, jihad.
By Larry Estavan
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is a martial arts competition in which contestants battle using a combination of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling, and jiu-jitsu. Started in 1994, the UFC has grown into an international sport with competitors coming from America, Brazil, Australia, China, Africa, and including recently, the Palestinian territories.
Most estimates put the UFC as a 12-billion-dollar business. It is a very successful sporting event.
Unfortunately, the UFC has been playing with fire, or more precisely, jihad.
In their quest for outstanding fighters, the UFC are recruiting from places such as Dagestan. In a PBS News Hour piece entitled, “Why are so many from this Russian republic fighting for ISIS?,” we learn that “as many as 5,000 Dagestanis have left to fight for the Islamic State.”
This has consequences. During UFC 229, the usually dignified Khabib Nurmagomedov jumped into the crowd and started a riot. Members of Khabib’s corner jumped into the Octagon to assault his opponent.
That was just the first caress.
A top 5 Welterweight contender, Belal Muhammad, was born in Chicago, Illinois, but identifies as Palestinian. It is his gimmick. He fights under the Palestinian flag. He wears the kufiyah to weigh-ins. He talks about his “people,” and calls out “Allahu akbar” inside the Octagon, the UFC’s stage. Moreover, he has said he will take any championship belt he may win to Gaza.
Outside of the Octagon, Belal shows his affinity with Hamas in his social media posts that contain Hamas talking points: propaganda about stolen land and genocide. At the same time, on his X/Twitter page, he promotes things such as Baitumaal, which is one of the like-minded organizations on the list of the international insurgency known as the Muslim Brotherhood.
Support for Baitumaal on social media is just one of the many warning signals Belal Muhammad gives off.
Beyond social media, his whole family shares Belal’s feelings on “Palestine.” His sister is an official in the American Muslims for Palestine, formally known as the Islamic Association for Palestine, a Hamas front.
“Judge Finds Sufficient Evidence Linking American Muslims for Palestine Group to Hamas Supporters,” by Abha Shankar, Algemeiner, May 20, 2022:
A Federal judge in Chicago on Tuesday allowed a lawsuit to proceed, which claims that the anti-Israel group American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) is really a continuation of a defunct cog in a Hamas-support network.
In 2004, Joyce and Stanley Boim were awarded $156 million in damages from the Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP) and the American Muslim Society (AMS) for providing material support to Hamas.
The Boims’ 17-year-old-son David was killed in a 1996 Hamas terrorist attack.
But the defendant organizations shut themselves down before paying, citing “the burden of the Boim Judgment and associated litigation costs.
The Boims believe that was part of a shell game, with AMP and its financial arm — Americans for Justice in Palestine Educational Foundation (AJP) — emerging and picking up where IAP and AMS left off. If true, the $156 million judgment should apply to them.
In 2012, the AMP, along with the Bridgeview Mosque, held a celebration for Muhammad Salah, a Hamas member who was indicted for providing resources to that organization. Additionally, the AMP works closely with the Bridgeview Mosque, whose imam is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy Land Foundation trial. It is quite possible that Belal Muhammad worships at the Bridgeview Mosque.
Both Belal and his sister have promoted West Bank Apparel, where you can buy Palestinian jewelry in the shape of Israel. A percentage of West Bank Apparel’s proceeds go to the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, and Islamic Relief, two pro Hamas organizations.
And Saturday night at UFC 294 in Abu Dhabi, the crowd was chanting, “Free Palestine.”
The UFC Lightweight Champion, and Dagestan native Islam Makhachev voiced his support for Palestine in the Octagon.
The dominant Middleweight contender, and Chechen by birth, Khamzat Chimaev gave a long speech in Russian, saying he wanted to take a rifle and fight for Allah in Palestine.
It is ironic that although the UFC has banned Nazis, they are now, perhaps, the most anti-Semitic sports league in America.
Image Credit: UFC/ESPN+