Russian UFC fighter Khusein Askhabov (23-1) and his twin brother Khasan have been arrested in Phuket, Thailand over allegations of kidnap, torture, and extortion.
The victim had become acquaintance with Khusein Askhabov & his brother since last year
According to the local media, Khusein and Khasan were arrested in connection with three men from Kazakhstan who have been accused of breaking into the home of an Italian man’s villa at a resort in Cherng Talay on 3rd September.
The man was reportedly bound, dragged out of his bedroom, blindfolded, gagged, and beaten for hours to extract information. The ordeal was followed by the perpetrators flying out of Thailand and are believed to be in Kazakhstan. The perpetrators were identified and confirmed clearing immigration at Phuket airport on Monday morning and they boarded Flight EK397 to Dubai.
The Italian man said that he came across the Askhabov brothers at a beach cafe in Cherng Talay a year back, followed by them becoming associates. However, the man said he had never met the three attackers who broke into his home.
As per the latest reports, the victim was robbed of more than 12 million baht ($337,500 USD) in total. The stolen items include: one Rolex ‘Daytona’ watch valued at about 2,476,500 baht ($68,000 USD), one Patek Philippe ‘Nautilus’ watch valued at about 3.8 million baht ($107,000 USD) one Graff watch valued at about 1.6 million baht ($45,000 USD), one Macbook, a new iPhone 13 and a new iPhone 14, and a pair of sunglasses.
Following the development of the news, the UFC has pulled Khusein from the upcoming UFC Vegas 880 event on 7th October where he was slated to face Daniel Pineda.
“UFC is aware of the recent arrest and allegations regarding Khusein Askhabov. The organization will continue to gather additional details regarding the incident. UFC will allow the legal process to play out before making any additional statements, however, his scheduled fight on October 7 has been canceled,” read an official statement from the UFC. [H/T ESPN]
Hailing from Chechnya, “Noncho” made his debut in the Octagon earlier this year at UFC Vegas 69, where he lost to Jamall Emmers via unanimous decision in a featherweight contest.
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