Last year, ex-UFC fighter Mounir Lazzez’s 971 FC promotion held its second event in June at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. However, a year after the MMA event took place in the Middle East, new reports have revealed that Lazzez appeared alongside Kinahan cartel members, who previously posed for pictures with Tyson Fury, sparking a new controversy.

“Exclusive: Two of the world’s most wanted men, Daniel and Christy Kinahan, were photographed at a Mixed Martial Arts event in Dubai — their most recent sighting since the US issued multi-million dollar bounties,” Bellingcat posted on their official Instagram account. “Bellingcat and @thetimes found the images of the father and son cartel leaders at the 971 Fighting Championship last June, where they are seen with the event’s founder and former UFC athlete, Mounir ‘The Sniper’ Lazzez.

The footage is the first visual proof that the narco-traffickers — who have been in hiding in Dubai for a decade — were still in the desert city as recently as last summer,” they added.

For the unaware, the Kinahan Cartel is one of the largest organized crime syndicates in the world. It was founded by Christy Kinahan in the 1990s alongside his eldest son, Daniel. The notorious group primarily operates out of Ireland, but they also have roots in Spain, the UAE, and the United Kingdom. But that’s not all. Alongside other businesses, the cartel has also been influential in the world of combat sports.

Most notably, Kinahan’s boxing management company signed former WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in 2017 and also worked as his primary advisor. During that period, the English boxer was spotted multiple times with the cartel members. However, the firm ended up shutting down in 2022, which led Fury to move back to Queensberry.

Coming back to the ties with ex-UFC fighter Mounir Lazzez, the cartel members seemed to help him rise in his MMA career. Following his victory over Ange Loosa at UFC Vegas 51, ‘The Sniper’ credited the cartel’s operator, Daniel Kinahan, and called him an “advisor” and a friend.

“That man is a friend and advisor,” Lazzez said at UFC Vegas 51. “He’s the one who picked me up every time life would kick me down. He’s a real man of his word and, you know, he’s the one who taught me what it means to have real family and real friends. It’s someone I cannot thank enough for where I am today and who I am today.”

Now, it seems that even three years after leaving the UFC, the Tunisian fighter remains tied to the Kinahan cartel members. But alongside Lazzez’s ties with the group, the UFC has also recently faced trouble conducting an event because of a literal cartel war.

UFC held a major fight night event during a cartel war in Mexico

On February 28, the UFC scheduled a crowded Fight Night event in Mexico at the Arena CDMX, headlined by former flyweight champ Brandon Moreno facing a stellar up-and-comer, Lone’er Kavanagh. Because of this exciting matchup, fans were stoked to see the event, but momentarily, the entire spectacle remained uncertain. The reason? A full-fledged cartel war in the country.

Following the death of renowned cartel leader ‘El Mencho’, the world witnessed a kinetic back-and-forth between Mexican forces and cartel members. With the situation growing increasingly unstable, many believed the promotion would either suspend the event or move it to the United States.

However, the UFC brass ultimately gave the Fight Night card the green light, as reporter Rodrigo Del Campo González reported that the event would continue because it was far from the affected areas. As a result, the show went on in Mexico City, where prospect Lone’er Kavanagh ended up pulling off an upset by defeating former champion Brandon Moreno in front of his home crowd.

That said, as new cartel connections have been associated with an ex-UFC fighter, what do you think about their influence in combat sports? Let us know in the comments section below.