ACA President Magomed Bubulatov provided candid insights about drug testing in the Russian promotion during an interview. He stated that more fighters test positive for banned substances than test clean, and noted that fighters taking bouts on short notice are typically the cleanest because they haven't had time to use anything. Bubulatov explained that the organization gave fighters six months to clear their systems and allowed certain therapeutic substances. Drug testing is expensive and would ideally require cooperation among all Russian promotions, which he considers unlikely. The organization is still deciding how to handle fighters who test positive, with Bubulatov initially considering one-year suspensions. ACA has personnel tracking which fighters use more or fewer banned substances.
ACA President Magomed Bubulatov has offered a striking admission about the state of drug testing inside his organization, revealing that the majority of fighters competing under the ACA banner test positive for banned substances rather than clean.
Speaking in a recent interview, Bubulatov described a landscape where performance-enhancing drug use is widespread across the roster. He noted one telling indicator of how pervasive the problem is: fighters who accept bouts on short notice tend to return the cleanest samples, simply because they have not had enough time to use anything before testing.
The ACA president said the organization gave fighters a six-month window to clear their systems ahead of testing and made allowances for certain therapeutic substances during that period. He acknowledged that comprehensive drug testing is a costly undertaking and suggested the most effective approach would involve coordination across all Russian MMA promotions — an outcome he views as unlikely.
Why it matters
- Bubulatov's comments amount to a rare and candid institutional admission that doping is the norm rather than the exception inside a major regional promotion.
- ACA has not yet settled on a formal policy for handling positive tests, with one-year suspensions among the options under consideration.
- The organization reportedly maintains internal records tracking which fighters use more or fewer banned substances, suggesting some level of monitoring is already in place even without a finalized enforcement framework.
- A lack of cross-promotional cooperation on testing could leave fighters who compete across multiple Russian organizations effectively unaccountable to any unified standard.
The comments raise broader questions about competitive integrity in Russian MMA at a time when ACA is one of the most prominent regional promotions outside the UFC ecosystem. How the organization ultimately structures and enforces its testing policy will determine whether Bubulatov's transparency translates into meaningful reform.
