Karim Zidan

At a glance

• Founder of Sports Politika, a Substack newsletter on sports and politics
• Freelance contributor to The Guardian
• Working on a book titled The Ultimate Strongmen

Overview

Karim Zidan is an investigative journalist who works where sports and politics meet. He founded Sports Politika, a newsletter published on Substack that covers the links between sports, power and politics. He also writes as a freelancer for the British daily The Guardian. His work sits closer to political journalism than to fight coverage, even when the subject is a UFC star or a title fight.

Much of his reporting focuses on MMA: ties between fighters or promotions and authoritarian regimes, and the presence of extremist movements in parts of the combat sports world, including neo-Nazi fight clubs. He is working on a book titled The Ultimate Strongmen and is listed among the members featured by the Human Rights Foundation.

What you'll find

Sports Politika publishes investigations and analysis on sports, power and politics. Its series include In The Red Corner. The pieces rely on documented sources and put fighters and promotions in their political context.

In The Guardian, his stories cover the same ground for a wider readership. His reporting on neo-Nazi fight clubs documents the presence of extremist groups in some combat sports gyms and events, naming the people, the places and the links between those groups.

Why follow

Karim Zidan gives you a view of MMA you will not find in standard sports coverage. While news sites track results and announcements, his investigations look at who funds the promotions, who appears alongside the fighters, and what that says about power.

If you care about MMA beyond the cage, his work gives you the political context behind certain careers and events. It helps you understand why a fighter or a promotion ends up at the center of debates that reach well past the sport itself. His articles are useful background when a fight card is held in a country where sports and state power are closely tied, or when a fighter speaks out publicly on politics.

MMA Official's take

Karim Zidan is for readers who want to understand the political and geopolitical stakes around MMA. He also suits students, researchers and journalists working on sports and power, and anyone who wants a critical look at the industry.

Start with the In The Red Corner series on Sports Politika to get a sense of how he investigates MMA. Then subscribe to the newsletter to get his new investigations, and read his stories in The Guardian.