Eduard Vartanyan was allegedly attacked in the backstage area before his fight with Uzair at ACA 202 in St. Petersburg. According to reports, friends of Zaur Gadzhiev struck Vartanyan in the back of the head. The incident highlights ongoing security concerns at ACA events, where media access to backstage areas is heavily restricted while fighters not on the card and their entourages can move freely. The journalist notes that ACA has improved media access recently, particularly after a Kazakhstan event where security removed him from ringside for filming too close to the cage. The post criticizes the promotion for allowing fighters outside the active card and their associates backstage access while blocking credentialed media who have covered ACA for years.
A troubling incident reportedly took place backstage at ACA 202 in St. Petersburg on April 12, when Eduard Vartanyan was allegedly struck in the back of the head by associates of Zaur Gadzhiev before his scheduled bout with Uzair.
According to reports, the attack occurred in the backstage area prior to Vartanyan's fight, raising immediate questions about the safety and security protocols in place at the event. The circumstances as described point to a physical confrontation initiated not by a fellow competitor but by individuals connected to another fighter, Gadzhiev, who was apparently not on the ACA 202 card.
Why it matters
- The incident exposes a significant gap in ACA's event security, where fighters outside the active card and their entourages reportedly move freely backstage while credentialed media face strict restrictions.
- A journalist covering the event noted the contrast firsthand, citing a separate incident at a recent ACA event in Kazakhstan where a credentialed member of the press was removed from ringside for filming near the cage.
- The report criticizes the promotion's access policies as inconsistent and potentially dangerous, prioritizing restrictions on media over basic security measures for competing athletes.
- If the account is accurate, an attack on a fighter before he enters competition raises serious concerns about duty of care toward athletes under the ACA banner.
The promotion has not issued a public statement addressing the alleged backstage assault. ACA has made some recent steps to improve its relationship with media, according to the journalist's account, but the events described at ACA 202 suggest that internal access controls remain a serious and unresolved problem.
