Eduard Vartanyan was assaulted in the backstage area before his bout at ACA 202 in Saint Petersburg, suffering a blow to the back of the head. The attack was allegedly carried out by friends of Zaur Gadjiev. The incident raises questions about ACA's security protocols, as the promotion has historically restricted media access to backstage areas and locker rooms while allowing fighters not competing on the card to move freely. Media members who have covered ACA for years have often been denied backstage access, yet non-competing fighters and their associates appear to have fewer restrictions. The author notes that ACA's media access policies have improved recently, though the situation is still not ideal.
