MMA Fighter From Israel Puts Names Of Muslim Fighters On Artillery Shell

An Israeli MMA fighter, Haim Gozali, has been openly supportive of Israel's efforts to respond to Hamas' terrorist attack on October 7th.

And in doing so, he went after four Muslim UFC fighters in a now-deleted post on X.

Gozali posted a photo of an Israeli weapon ticketed for Gaza, with the names of four current and former Muslim UFC fighters written on it: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, Khamzat Chimaev and Belal Muhammad, with a message reading: "This is for u :) from Haim Gozali. ISRAEL."

His post was removed for violating platform rules, but the caption on X read: "This from me to the ."

Despite the original being deleted, Gozali has reposted the photo elsewhere.

After Hamas' attacks and Israel's response, Gozali has been in a back and forth exchange with Chimaev. Chimaev wrote in a now-deleted post on Instagram: "You are just gets of Palestine' respect them for giving you asylum. One day they will expel you from Palestine, Inshallah. Bring me the strongest man in Israel, I will break him."

Gozali responded in a now-deleted Instagram post, "I'm not the strongest man in Israel but I dare you to come and 'try' break me any day! I know you have a contract with the @ufc and I couldn't care less so I challenge you to a bare knuckle fight or Grappling...your choice!!!! Waiting for you if you even dare."

TAMPA, FL - FEBRUARY 05: Haim Gozali (R) lands a punch to the head of John McAllister during the BKFC KnuckleMania event at RP Funding Center on February 5, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by Alex Menendez/Getty Images)

Israeli Fighter Goes After Muslim Fighters

Several of the Muslim fighters listed have made specific remarks about the war unfolding in Gaza.

Khabib Nurmagomedov posted misinformation about the hospital bombing, blaming Israel for what turned out to be a misfired Palestinian rocket and accusing them of "genocide."

Most of Belal Muhammad's posts have been attacking Israel, calling for a ceasefire or sharing statistics on Gaza. Notably, he has not condemned Hamas for taking hostages, massacring children, or raping and murdering civilians.

Chimaev also shared the same misinformation about the hospital bombing, with neither deleting their post after being proven wrong.

Regardless, it does seem to be an unnecessary escalation to specifically call out individual fighters on artillery that will used in war. Gozali has, unsurprisingly, received backlash for his post, but hasn't issued a public apology.