Video: Khamzat Chimaev gets married in Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov attends

Khamzat Chimaev is officially a married man.

The 28-year-old rising contender took time off from calling out half the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) roster on social media to tie the knot in his home country of Chechnya. While it was a private ceremony without much media hoopla, it did include one notable guest: Head of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov.

Having the leader of your country participate in your wedding brings some perks with it. In a video of the day, you can see Chimaev’s bride got a police escort through the city (helicopters included, for some reason) to the hosting venue. If it wasn’t for Kadyrov’s announcement on Instagram along with a video, very little information would have gotten out about the marriage at all.

“Friends, the day before, I accepted with great pleasure an invitation to a wedding event, which took place at the Sail restaurant,” Kadyrov wrote (translation via Google). “Dear BROTHER, UFC fighter Khamzat Chimaev tied himself up with family ties. Not only Khamzat’s relatives and friends gathered here, but also numerous friends. Everything was perfectly organized in accordance with national traditions.”

“I really enjoyed my visit to the celebration,” Kadyrov continued. “After all, each new family in the Chechen Republic is an additional reason for the joy of all its inhabitants. I heartily congratulate the newlyweds! I sincerely wish the contentment of the Almighty, good health, happiness and prosperity!”

Here’s a compilation of video clips and photos of the event scraped together:

Chimaev is coming off a huge win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 273 that jumped him all the way up to No. 3 in UFC’s official Welterweight rankings. With champion Kamaru Usman currently recovering from a hand injury (details here), Chimaev recently called out No. 1-seeded contender, Leon Edwards, to fight, perhaps for an interim belt?