ACA President Magomed Magomedov candidly discussed doping control in the promotion, stating that more fighters use prohibited substances than compete clean. He noted that fighters who accept bouts on short notice are typically clean because they "didn't have time to apply anything." Magomedov explained that ACA implemented testing after giving fighters six months to clear their systems, and the league now has data on which athletes use more or fewer banned substances. He expressed uncertainty about how to handle violators and acknowledged that comprehensive testing is prohibitively expensive, suggesting Russian promotions should unite to share costs, though he doubts this will happen. Magomedov mentioned considering one-year suspensions for offenders but emphasized the league cannot solve this problem alone due to the financial burden of testing each fighter and maintaining laboratories.
Magomed Magomedov, president of the ACA promotion, made a striking admission about the state of doping in his organization, stating publicly that the majority of fighters on his roster use prohibited substances rather than competing clean.
Speaking candidly on the issue, Magomedov offered an unusual tell for identifying clean athletes: fighters who accept bouts on short notice, he said, are typically free of banned substances simply because they had no time to use them. It is a rare moment of transparency from a promotion leader on a subject that combat sports organizations more often sidestep.
Magomedov revealed that ACA introduced doping testing only after giving fighters a six-month window to clear their systems, and the league has since accumulated internal data tracking which athletes use more or fewer prohibited substances. Despite that data, he acknowledged uncertainty about how to handle those who test positive, floating the idea of one-year suspensions but stopping short of committing to a policy.
Why it matters
- Comprehensive fighter testing is financially prohibitive for a single promotion, Magomedov argued, pointing to the cost of individual tests and laboratory maintenance.
- He floated the idea of Russian promotions pooling resources to share testing costs, though he expressed doubt that such cooperation would materialize.
- Without a unified framework or governing body mandate, ACA appears unlikely to implement consistent enforcement on its own, leaving the burden unresolved.
The comments underscore a broader structural problem in regional MMA markets, where anti-doping infrastructure that larger organizations like the UFC can fund through partnerships with USADA remains out of reach for smaller promotions. Magomedov's remarks are notable less for revealing anything surprising about PED use in combat sports and more for the frankness with which a sitting promotion president described the scale of the problem inside his own organization.
