Absolute Championship Akhmat

Absolute Championship Akhmat
Type	Private
Industry	Mixed martial arts promotion
Founded	2014
Founder	Mairbek Khasiev
Headquarters	Grozny, Chechnya, Russia
Website	www.aca-mma.com/en

Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), formerly known as Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB), is a Russian mixed martial arts, kickboxing and brazilian jiu-jitsu organization and one of the leading promotions in Europe.[1] To date, most events have been hosted in Grozny, Russia. ACA also hosted events in other Russian cities, as well as in Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Italy, Kazakhstan, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Scotland, Slovakia, Tajikistan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United States.

History

The Beginning

ACB was founded by Mairbek Khasiev, he is one of the most respected citizens of Chechen Republic. Khasiev a sport activist and a decorated doctor with a lot of notable awards. Thanks to his efforts in 2009 the Berkut Fight Club was founded in Grozny help a lot young fighters get the opportunity to compete in the very highest level.

Several fighters who have been successful in ACB have signed on to more well known promotions such as the UFC. ACB has its own fight team, the Fight Club Berkut, which consists of some of the promotion's elite fighters, such as Beslan Isaev, Magomed Bibulatov, Musa Khamanaev and Aslambek Saidov. ACB co-operates with many other promotions in Europe by exchanging fighters, for example KSW and The Cage. ACB runs the majority of its shows live on a variety of TV networks (Match TV, Polsat Sport) throughout Europe. The promotion runs its shows live internationally on its Facebook page.

International Expansion

The 2017 campaign featured 27 events spanning across thirteen countries, including United States, Austria, Poland, England, Tajikistan, Belarus, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Australia and Russia.

TECH-Krep FC purchase

On September 12, 2018, Mairbek Khasiev revealed that Absolute Championship Berkut had purchased TECH-Krep FC.[2] Khasiev went on to explain that TECH-Krep FC will cease operation and they canceled the October 26 event, and that former Tech-Krep FC head Alexey Yatsenko will become the president of the organization.

WFCA acquisition and integration

On November 28, 2018, the Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov announced that the Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB) and the World Fighting Championship Akhmat (WFCA) would merge to form a single promotion.[3]

US Sanctions

On December 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Treasury announced sanctions against ACA and Akhmat MMA due to their ownership by Kadyrov. Due to this, no American citizen or company can do business with them, meaning all American fighters could face fines or jail time if they fight for the organization. [4] Brett Cooper was the first fighter to pull out of his fight at ACA 116: Froes vs Balaev due to the sanctions.[5]

List of events

Scheduled Event

ACA
No.	Event	Date	Venue	Location
2	ACA 118: Abdulaev vs. Vagaev 2	February 26, 2021	TBA	Russia
1	ACA 117: Bagov vs. Silvério	February 12, 2021	WOW Arena	Krasnaya Polyana, Russia

Current champions

Mixed martial arts

Division	Champion	Since	Defenses
Heavyweight	Tony Johnson	November 26, 2020	0
Light Heavyweight	Vacant
Middleweight	Salamu Abdurakhmanov	April 27, 2019	1
Welterweight	Murad Abdulaev	September 5, 2020	0
Lightweight	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov	September 19, 2020	0
Featherweight	Vacant
Bantamweight	Daniel Oliveira	March 6, 2020	1
Flyweight	Azamat Kerefov	February 21, 2020	1

Kickboxing

Division	Champion	Since
Heavyweight	Tsotne Rogava	April 20, 2018
Middleweight	Artem Levin	April 20, 2018
Welterweight	Parviz Abdullayev	April 20, 2018

Brazilian jiu-jitsu

Division	Champion	Since	Defenses
Heavyweight	Marcus Almeida	May 5, 2018	0
Light Heavyweight	Felipe Pena	April 14, 2018	0
Middleweight	Leandro Lo	May 5, 2018	0
Welterweight	Lucas Lepri	June 30, 2018	0
Lightweight	Paulo Miyao	September 8, 2018	1
Featherweight	João Miyao	April 14, 2018	1

Rankings

The rankings for the ACA's fighters are both recorded and updated when information has been obtained from the ACA's website.[6]

ACA Rankings
Rank	Heavyweight	Light Heavyweight	Middleweight	Welterweight
C	Tony Johnson Jr.		Salamu Abdurahmanov	Murad Abdulaev
1	Daniel Omielańczuk	Muslim Magomedov	Magomed Ismailov	Abubakar Vagaev
2	Dmitry Poberezhets 3	Aleksei Butorin	Nikola Dipchikov 1	Ustarmagomed Gadzhidaudov
3	Mukhamad Vakhaev 1	Evgeniy Egemberdiev 1	Magomedrasul Gasanov 6	Gadzhimurad Khiramagomedov
4	Ruslan Magomedov 1	Asylzhan Bakhytzhanuly 1	Artem Frolov 2	Elias Silverio
5	Denis Smoldarev 1	Ilya Shcheglov	Rafał Haratyk 1	Beslan Ushukov
6	Daniel James	Grigor Matevosyan 2	Piotr Strus 1	Ali Bagov
7	Salimgirey Rasulov ^(NR)	Carlos Eduardo 1	Ibragim Magomedov 1	Vitaliy Slipenko
8	Ioannis Arzoumanidis	Cory Hendricks 1	Abdul-Rahman Dzhanaev 1	Khuseyn Khaliev ^(NR)
9	Mateusz Lazowski	Artur Astakhov	Valery Myasnikov 3	Alexander Butenko
10	Roggers Souza	Karol Celinski	Alexey Efremov	Andrei Koshkin
Rank	Lightweight	Featherweight	Bantamweight	Flyweight
C	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov		Deivi Daniel Oliveira de Almeida	Azamat Kerefov
1	Artem Reznikov	Felipe Froes	Magomed Bibulatov	Murad Zeynulabidov
2	Yusuf Raisov	Magomedrasul Khasbulaev 1	Francisco de Lima Maciel	Kurban Gadzhiev
3	Amirkhan Adaev 1	Salman Zhamaldaev 1	Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev	Rasul Albaskhanov
4	Alexander Sarnavskiy 1	Marat Balaev 1	Shamil Shakhbulatov	Azamat Pshukov
5	Aurel Pîrtea 1	Apti Bimarzaev 1	Islam Meshev	Imran Bukuev
6	Hacran Dias 1	Tural Ragimov 1	Khusein Sheikhaev 1	Charles Henrique
7	Rashid Magomedov 1	Andrey Goncharov	Rodrigo Praia 1	Murad Magomedov
8	Mukhamed Kokov 2	Bibert Tumenov 1	Igor Zhirkov	Azam Gaforov
9	Levan Makashvili	Askhab Zulaev 1	Oleg Borisov	Mansur Khatuev
10	Vener Galiev ^(NR)	Ramazan Kishev	Cleverson Silva	Aren Akopyan ^(NR)

Championship history

Heavyweight Championship

120 kg (265 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Tony Johnson def. Daniel Omielańczuk	ACA 114 Łódź, Poland	November 26, 2020
Mukhamad Vakhaev vacated the title in March 2020 when he chose to test the free agency after the end of his contract with ACA .
6	Mukhamad Vakhaev def. Evgeny Goncharov	ACA 104 Krasnodar, Russia	February 21, 2020
5	Evgeny Goncharov def. Tony Johnson	ACA 97 Krasnodar, Russia	August 31, 2019
Evgeny Goncharov and Tony Johnson fought to a no contest at ACA 96, leaving the belt vacated.[7]
ACB and WFCA merging to become ACA.
4	Mukhomad Vakhaev def. Denis Goltsov	ACB 67 Grozny, Russia	August 19, 2017	1. def. Sergey Bilostenniy at ACB 90 on Nov. 10, 2018 in Moscow, Russia
3	Denis Goltsov def. Selimgerey Rasulov	ACB 50 Saint Petersburg, Russia	December 18, 2016
2	Salimgerey Rasulov def. Zelimkhan Umiev	ACB 29 Warsaw, Poland	February 6, 2016
1	Zelimkhan Umiev def. Israfil Makhashev	ACB 9 Grozny, Russia	June 22, 2014

Light Heavyweight Championship

93 kg (205 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov vacated the title when he signed for the Bellator MMA.
5	Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov def. Karol Celinski	ACA 92 Warsaw, Poland	February 16, 2019	1. def. Alexey Butorin at ACA 103 on December 14, 2019 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
ACB and WFCA merging to become ACA.
4	Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov def. Batraz Agnaev	ACB 86 Moscow, Russia	May 5, 2018
3	Batraz Agnaev def. Thiago Silva	ACB 65 Sheffield, England	July 22, 2017
2	Thiago Silva def. Jared Ferguson	ACB 51 Irvine, California United States	January 13, 2017
Gadzhimurad Antigulov vacated the title when he signed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
1	Gadzhimurad Antigulov def. Ruslan Khaskhanov	ACB 9 Grozny, Russia	June 22, 2014	1. def. Muslim Makhmudov at ACB 35 on May 6, 2016 in Tbilisi, Georgia

Middleweight Championship

84 kg (185 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Salamu Abdurakhmanov def. Brett Cooper	ACA 95 Moscow, Russia	April 27, 2019	1. def. Valery Myasnikov at ACA 102 on November 29, 2019 in Almaty, Kazakhstan
ACB and WFCA merging to become ACA.
2	Albert Duraev def. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky	ACB 77 Moscow, Russia	December 23, 2017	1. def. Piotr Strus at ACB 89 on Sept. 8, 2018 in Krasnodar, Russia
Anatoly Tokov vacated the title when he signed for M-1 Global.
1	Anatoly Tokov def. Arbi Aguev	ACB 38 Rostov-on-Don, Russia	May 20, 2016

Welterweight Championship

77 kg (170 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Murad Abdulaev def. Ali Bagov	ACA 110 Moscow, Russia	September 5, 2020
Albert Tumenov vacated the title in November 2019 when he chose to test the free agency after the end of his contract with ACA .
5	Albert Tumenov def. Murad Abdulaev	ACA 95 Moscow, Russia	April 27, 2019	1. def. Beslan Ushukov at ACA 102 on November 29, 2019 in Almaty, Kazakhstan
ACB and WFCA merging to become ACA.
4	Albert Tumenov def. Ciro Rodrigues	ACB 89 Krasnodar, Russia	September 8, 2018
Mukhamed Berkhamov was stripped of the title after his refusal to accept 3 title defense match ups
3	Mukhamed Berkhamov def. Brett Cooper	ACB 67 Grozny, Russia	August 19, 2017
2	Brett Cooper def. Aslambek Saidov	ACB 50 Saint Petersburg, Russia	December 18, 2016
Albert Duraev was stripped of the title due to him missing weight and his eventual move up to Middleweight.
1	Albert Duraev def. Ustarmagomed Gadzhidaudov	ACB 22 Saint Petersburg, Russia	September 12, 2015	1. def. Michail Tsarev at ACB 35 on May 6, 2016 in Tbilisi, Georgia

Lightweight Championship

70 kg (155 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov def. Alexander Sarnavskiy	ACA 111 Moscow, Russia	September 19, 2020
Title vacated after Bagov moved up to welterweight.
3	Ali Bagov def. Khuseyn Khaliev	ACA 99 Moscow, Russia	September 27, 2019
ACB and WFCA merging to become ACA.
2	Ali Bagov def. Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov	ACB 89 Krasnodar, Russia	September 8, 2018
Interim	Eduard Vartanyan def. Andrey Koshkin for interim title	ACB 71 Moscow, Russia	September 30, 2017
1	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov def. Ali Bagov	ACB 9 Grozny, Russia	June 22, 2014	1. def. Eduard Vartanyan at ACB 32 on March 26, 2016 in Moscow, Russia 2. def. Ali Bagov at ACB 48 on Oct. 22, 2016 in Moscow, Russia 3. def. interim champion Eduard Vartanyan at ACB 77 on Dec. 23, 2017 in Moscow, Russia

Featherweight Championship

66 kg (145 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Felipe Froes was stripped of the title after he missed weight
5	Felipe Froes def. Salman Zhamaldaev	ACA 100 Grozny, Russia	October 4, 2019
4	Salman Zhamaldaev def. Marat Balaev	ACA 93 Saint Petersburg, Russia	March 16, 2019
ACB and WFCA merging to become ACA.
3	Yusuf Raisov def. Marat Balaev for unified title	ACB 86 Moscow, Russia	May 5, 2018
Interim	Yusuf Raisov def. Alexander Peduson for interim title	ACB 77 Moscow, Russia	December 23, 2017
2	Marat Balayev def. Yusuf Raisov	ACB 50 Saint Petersburg, Russia	December 18, 2016	1. def. Adlan Bataev at ACB 61 on May 20, 2017 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
Zabit Magomedsharipov vacated the title when he signed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
1	Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Sheikh-Magomed Arapkhanov	ACB 31 Grozny, Russia	March 29, 2016	1. def. Valdines Silva at ACB 45 on September 17, 2016 in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Bantamweight Championship

61 kg (135 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Daniel Oliveira def. Shamil Shakhbulatov	ACA 105 Almaty, Kazakhstan	March 6, 2020	1. def. Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev at ACA 112 on October 4, 2020 in Grozny, Russia
Rustam Kerimov vacated the title in December 2019 when he chose to test the free agency after the end of his contract with ACA .
4	Rustam Kerimov def. Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev	ACA 93 Saint Petersburg, Russia	March 16, 2019	1. def. Francisco Maciel at ACA 103 on December 14, 2019 in Saint Petersburg, Russia
ACB and WFCA merging to become ACA.
3	Rustam Kerimov def. Oleg Borisov	ACB 83 Baku, Azerbaijan	March 24, 2018
Petr Yan vacated the title when he signed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
2	Petr Yan def. Magomed Magomedov	ACB 57 Moscow, Russia	April 15, 2017	1. def. Matheus Mattos at ACB 71 on September 30, 2017 in Moscow, Russia
1	Magomed Magomedov def. Petr Yan	ACB 32 Moscow, Russia	March 26, 2016	1. def. Oleg Borisov at ACB 50 on December 18, 2016 in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Flyweight Championship

57 kg (125 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Azamat Kerefov def. Mansur Khatuev	ACA 104 Krasnodar, Russia	February 21, 2020	1. def. Kurban Gadzhiev at ACA 113 on November 6, 2020 in Moscow, Russia
Yunus Evloev vacated the title in December 2019 for health reasons.
2	Yunus Evloev def. Josiel Silva	ACA 95 Moscow, Russia	April 27, 2019	1. def. Azam Gaforov at ACA 99 on September 27, 2019 in Moscow, Russia
ACB and WFCA merging to become ACA.
1	Askar Askarov def. José Maria Tomé	ACB 48 Moscow, Russia	October 22, 2016	1. def. Anthony Leone at ACB 58 on April 22, 2017 in Khasavyurt, Russia 2. def. Rasul Albaskhanov at ACB 86 on May 5, 2018 in Moscow, Russia

Heavyweight Championship

120 kg (265 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Tsotne Rogava	ACB KB 15 Moscow, Russia	April 20, 2018
1	Jhonata Diniz def. Kirk Krouba	ACB KB 6 Brussels, Belgium	June 5, 2016

Middleweight Championship

85 kg (187 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Artem Levin def. Igor Bugaenko	ACB KB 15 Moscow, Russia	April 20, 2018

Welterweight Championship

77 kg (170 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Perviz Abdullayev def. Islam Baibatyrov	ACB KB 15 Moscow, Russia	April 20, 2018

GI Heavyweight Championship

120 kg (265 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date
Current	Marcus Almeida	ACB JJ 13 Long Beach, United States	May 5, 2018
2	João Gabriel Rocha	ACB JJ 10 São Paulo, Brazil	January 26, 2018
1	Luiz Panza def. Alexander Trans	ACB JJ 5 Warsaw, Poland	June 22, 2014

GI Light Heavyweight Championship

95 kg (209 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Felipe Pena def. Adam Wardziński	ACB JJ 12 Almaty, Kazakhstan	April 14, 2018

Middleweight Championship

85 kg (187 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Leandro Lo def. Gabriel Arges	ACB JJ 13 Long Beach, United States	May 5, 2018

GI Welterweight Championship

75 kg (165 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Lucas Lepri	ACB JJ 14 Moscow, Russia	June 30, 2018
1	Davi Ramos def. Edwin Najmi	ACB JJ 11 Badalona, Spain	March 3, 2018

GI Lightweight Championship

65 kg (143 lbs)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	Paulo Miyao def. Augusto Mendes	ACB JJ 10 São Paulo, Brazil	January 26, 2018	1. def. Osvaldo Moizinho at ACB JJ 12 on April 14, 2018 in Almaty, Kazakhstan

GI Featherweight Championship

60 kg (132 lbs)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
Current	João Miyao def. Samir Chantre	ACB JJ 12 Almaty, Kazakhstan	April 14, 2018	1. def. Ary Farias at ACB JJ 14 on June 30, 2018 in Moscow, Russia

Grand Prix champions

Weight Class	Champion	Runner-up	Event	Date	Tournament Bracket
ACB Heavyweight GP 2015	Salimgerey Rasulov	Michał Andryszak	ACB 24: Grand Prix 2015 Finals Stage 2	October 24, 2015	ACB Heavyweight Grand Prix 2015 bracket
ACB Light Heavyweight GP 2015	Muslim Makhmudov	Husein Kushagov	ACB 24: Grand Prix 2015 Finals Stage 2	October 24, 2015	ACB Light Heavyweight Grand Prix 2015 bracket
ACB Middleweight GP 2015	Anatoly Tokov	Arbi Aguev	ACB 38: Breakthrough	May 20, 2016	ACB Middleweight Grand Prix 2015 bracket
ACB Welterweight GP 2015	Albert Duraev	Ustarmagomed Gadzhidaudov	ACB 22: Grand Prix 2015 Finals Stage 1	September 12, 2015	ACB Welterweight Grand Prix 2015 bracket
ACB Lightweight GP 2015	Ali Bagov	Eduard Vartanyan	ACB 22: Grand Prix 2015 Finals Stage 1	September 12, 2015	ACB Lightweight Grand Prix 2015 bracket
ACB Featherweight GP 2015	Zabit Magomedsharipov	Abdul-Rakhman Temirov	ACB 24: Grand Prix 2015 Finals Stage 2	October 24, 2015	ACB Featherweight Grand Prix 2015 bracket
ACB Bantamweight GP 2015	Petr Yan	Murad Kalamov	ACB 24: Grand Prix 2015 Finals Stage 2	October 24, 2015	ACB Bantamweight Grand Prix 2015 bracket
ACB Flyweight GP 2015	Velimurad Alkhasov	Ruslan Abiltarov	ACB 26: Grand Prix 2015 Finals Stage 3	November 28, 2015	ACB Flyweight Grand Prix 2015 bracket