Last week, photos of ex-UFC fighter Mounir Lazzez being spotted with members of the Kinahan Cartel at the 971 Fighting Championship 2 event, held in June 2025 at the Coca-Cola Arena, went viral on social media and sparked a major controversy. Now, it seems their alliance goes way deeper, as the former UFC fighter has been linked to the cartel’s dealings with Iran.

Independent investigators of Bellingcat, who previously posted pictures showing Lazzez with members of the Kinahan cartel, claimed that they uncovered documents linking Lazzez to several shipping deals worth millions of dollars. Their report suggests that these dealings were overlooked by several secret companies and organizations involving crude oil tankers that are currently sanctioned by the United States government for helping the Iranian regime amid the ongoing unrest. 

“Documents uncovered by Bellingcat and The Sunday Times link MMA fighter and Kinahan ‘friend’ Mounir Lazzez to multimillion shipping deals, orchestrated by companies in a secrecy jurisdiction, for crude oil tankers that were later sanctioned by the US for helping the Iranian regime. We revealed last week that Lazzez had been photographed up close with two of the wanted Kinahan cartel leaders at a Dubai MMA event he organised. That investigation uncovered the first photos of the crime bosses in years.

In 2023, Lazzez was listed as the director of two companies that paid more than $80 million for two oil tankers. The firms that bought these ships were headquartered in the Marshall Islands at an address used for registering offshore companies – including a separate one that owned a Kinahan cartel-linked bulk carrier loaded with more than two tonnes of c—ine,” Bellingcat posted on Instagram. 

Reports from The Sunday Times also suggest that the ships were linked to the Kinahan Cartel through an address in the Marshall Islands, a sovereign Micronesian nation, which were then seized off the Irish coast by another tanker. Furthermore, Bellingcat reports that those tankers are part of a separate firm linked to the Kinahan cartel that used to carry banned substances for the notorious crime group.

Revealing more details, The Sunday Times previously reported that the Kinahan Cartel, led by mob bosses Christy Kinahan and Daniel Kinahan, has been involved in many illegal activities such as arms smuggling, money laundering, and maintaining connections with other criminal organizations. Moreover, the organized crime group allegedly has ties with Iranian Intelligence and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. 

Now, when it comes to Mounir Lazzez’s connection with the Kinahan Cartel, it goes way back to when he fought in the UFC, and in one of his fights, he also gave the organized crime group’s chief a shout-out.

Mounir Lazzez gave the Kinahan Cartel a shout-out after a UFC fight

Alongside other businesses, the Kinahan Cartel also spread its wide influence in combat sports. Through their company, MTK Global, they used to manage many fighters, including Mounir Lazzez. 

The agency represented the Tunisian fighter while he was competing in the UFC, and after winning his fight against Ange Loosa via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: Luque vs Muhammad 2 in 2022, he decided to dedicate his winning speech to Daniel Kinahan.

“I would love to thank my coaches and my brother Daniel Kinahan. Without him, I would never be the man who I am today and my career at this point. Thanks a lot,” Lazzez said at the UFC Fight Night event.

For the unversed, Lazzez is not the only fighter the Kinhans had connections with. Surprisingly, they also used to manage former boxing heavyweight champion, Tyson Fury, under MTK Global. After some time, the firm eventually closed, and ‘The Gypsy King’ went back to Queensberry Promotions under Frank Warren.