ACA President Magomed Bibulatov disclosed that more fighters in the promotion use performance-enhancing drugs than compete clean. He revealed that fighters who accept bouts on short notice are typically clean because they have no time to use substances. The promotion has implemented drug testing and given fighters six months to clear their systems, allowing some approved recovery supplements. Bibulatov is considering one-year suspensions for violators but acknowledges that comprehensive testing is expensive and would require cooperation among all Russian promotions, which he considers unlikely.
ACA President Magomed Bibulatov has publicly acknowledged that more fighters competing under the Absolute Championship Akhmat banner use performance-enhancing drugs than do not, making a candid admission that cuts against the grain of how most promotion executives address the subject.
Bibulatov offered an unusually frank breakdown of how substance use operates at the organizational level. According to his disclosure, fighters who accept bouts on short notice tend to be clean by necessity — there simply is not enough time to use banned substances and cycle off before competing. The implication is that those with longer preparation windows are more likely to be using.
The promotion has responded by introducing drug testing and giving its roster a six-month window to clear their systems before enforcement tightens. Certain recovery supplements have been approved in the interim, suggesting the organization is attempting a graduated approach rather than immediate zero-tolerance enforcement.
Why it matters
- ACA is one of the largest MMA promotions operating in Russia and the broader post-Soviet region, meaning the scope of the problem Bibulatov describes is significant.
- Bibulatov is weighing one-year suspensions for future violators, which would represent a meaningful deterrent if consistently applied.
- He acknowledged that truly comprehensive testing would require coordination across all Russian promotions — a scenario he described as unlikely — leaving a structural gap that individual promotion-level enforcement cannot close.
The candid nature of the admission is notable in a combat sports landscape where governing bodies and promoters routinely downplay doping issues. Whether ACA's internal testing program proves rigorous enough to match the scale of the problem its own president has described remains an open question.
