ACA president Magomed Magomedbulatov candidly discussed the promotion's doping control efforts in an interview, revealing that more fighters use performance-enhancing drugs than compete clean. He noted that fighters accepting bouts on short notice are typically clean because they "didn't have time to use anything." The organization gave fighters six months to clear their systems and allowed some approved substances when they began testing. Magomedbulatov acknowledged that doping control is expensive and suggested Russian promotions should unite to address the issue, though he considers this unlikely. He's considering year-long suspensions for violators but hasn't finalized the approach, noting that ACA alone cannot solve Russia's PED problem without broader industry cooperation.
The president of Absolute Championship Akhmat has made a striking admission about the scale of performance-enhancing drug use inside his organization, stating openly that more fighters on the roster use PEDs than compete without them.
Magomed Magomedbulatov made the remarks in a candid interview, offering one of the more frank public assessments of doping culture to come from a major Russian MMA promotion. Among his more pointed observations was that fighters who accept bouts on short notice tend to be clean simply because they had no time to prepare a doping cycle before the contest.
Magomedbulatov outlined steps ACA has already taken, including giving fighters a six-month window to clear prohibited substances from their systems before testing began and allowing certain approved substances during that transition period. The acknowledgment suggests the organization entered formal doping control with a realistic understanding of how widespread the problem was among its athletes.
Why it matters
- ACA is one of the largest MMA promotions outside the UFC, so its internal doping culture has implications for the broader European and Russian fight scene.
- The admission raises questions about the competitive integrity of past and future matchmaking within the promotion.
- Magomedbulatov is weighing year-long bans for violators, a policy that could significantly reshape the roster if enforced consistently.
The ACA president acknowledged that doping control is a costly undertaking and argued that Russian promotions would need to collaborate to make testing meaningful at a national level. He considers that kind of industry-wide coordination unlikely, however, leaving ACA in the position of bearing the financial and logistical burden largely on its own.
Magomedbulatov has not finalized a penalty structure, but one-year suspensions are under consideration for fighters who test positive. He was clear that the promotion cannot resolve what he views as a systemic problem in Russian combat sports without cooperation from other organizations in the country.
