Absolute Championship Akhmat

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. To date, most events have been hosted in Grozny, Russia. ACA has also held 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
Absolute Championship Berkut
ACB was founded by Mairbek Khasiev, a citizen of Chechnya. In 2009, he founded the Berkut Fight Club in Grozny which helped young fighters get the opportunity to compete at the highest level.
Several fighters who were successful in ACB have gone on to sign with more well known promotions such as the UFC. ACB had its own fight team, the Fight Club Berkut, which consisted of some of the promotion's fighters, such as Beslan Isaev, Magomed Bibulatov, Musa Khamanaev and Aslambek Saidov. ACB co-operated with other promotions in Europe by exchanging fighters, for example KSW and The Cage. ACB ran the majority of its shows live on a variety of TV networks (Match TV, Polsat Sport) throughout Europe. The promotion ran its shows live internationally on its Facebook page.
International Expansion
The 2017 campaign featured 27 events spanning across thirteen countries, including the 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. Khasiev went on to explain that TECH-Krep FC would cease operation and cancel their October 26 event, and that former Tech-Krep FC head Alexey Yatsenko would become the president of ACB.
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.
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. Brett Cooper was the first fighter to pull out of his fight at ACA 116: Froes vs Balaev due to the sanctions.
Roster
List of events
2023 events
Current champions
Mixed martial arts
Rankings
The rankings for the ACA's fighters are both recorded and updated when information has been obtained from the ACA's website.
Updated as of October 9, 2023.
Championship history
Mixed martial arts
Heavyweight Championship
over 93 kg (over 205 lb)
Light Heavyweight Championship
93 kg (205 lb)
Middleweight Championship
84 kg (185 lb)
Welterweight Championship
77 kg (170 lb)
Lightweight Championship
70 kg (155 lb)
Featherweight Championship
66 kg (145 lb)
Bantamweight Championship
61 kg (135 lb)
Flyweight Championship
57 kg (125 lb)
Kickboxing
Heavyweight Championship
120 kg (265 lb)
Middleweight Championship
84 kg (185 lb)
Welterweight Championship
77 kg (170 lb)
Brazilian jiu-jitsu
GI Heavyweight Championship
120 kg (265 lb)
GI Light Heavyweight Championship
95 kg (209 lb)
GI Middleweight Championship
85 kg (187 lb)
GI Welterweight Championship
75 kg (165 lb)
GI Lightweight Championship
65 kg (143 lbs)
GI Featherweight Championship
60 kg (132 lbs)
Grand Prix champions
Notable fighters
Mixed martial arts
Amir Aliakbari
Ben Alloway
Saul Almeida
Dylan Andrews
Gadzhimurad Antigulov
Scott Askham
Niklas Bäckström
Luke Barnatt
Magomed Bibulatov
E. J. Brooks
Paul Buentello
Nah-Shon Burrell
Chris Camozzi
Steve Carl
Dan Charles
Joachim Christensen
Brett Cooper
Carlos Eduardo
Rob Emerson
Efrain Escudero
Gustavo Falciroli
Christos Giagos
Fernando Gonzalez
Chase Gormley
Sergej Grecicho
Mike Grundy
Piotr Hallmann
Pat Healy
Marcin Held
Bubba Jenkins
Georgi Karakhanyan
Mamed Khalidov
Magomedrasul Khasbulaev
Mike Kyle
Anthony Leone
Artem Lobov
Murad Machaev
Reza Madadi
Leonardo Mafra
Vinny Magalhães
Zabit Magomedsharipov
John Maguire
Zach Makovsky
Nick Mamalis
Alonzo Martinez
Danny Martinez
Rasul Mirzaev
David Mitchell
Takeya Mizugaki
Luis Alberto Nogueira
Daniel Omielańczuk
Luis Palomino
Norman Parke
Nam Phan
Jesse Ronson
Donald Sanchez
André Santos
Daniel Sarafian
Alexander Sarnavskiy
Fábio Silva
Leandro Silva
Thiago Silva
Dennis Siver
Clifford Starks
Akop Stepanyan
Hans Stringer
Michinori Tanaka
Luis Tavares
Thiago Tavares
Jesse Taylor
Michail Tsarev
Albert Tumenov
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky
Rodolfo Vieira
Marcos Vinicius
Rodney Wallace
Robert Whiteford
Mike Wilkinson
Andre Winner
Petr Yan
Kickboxing
Benjamin Adegbuyi
Chingiz Allazov
Dzhabar Askerov
Jamal Ben Saddik
Yuri Bessmertny
Igor Bugaenko
Redouan Cairo
Mikhail Chalykh
Sebastian Ciobanu
Hicham El Gaoui
Freddy Kemayo
Enriko Kehl
Albert Kraus
Artem Levin
Alka Matewa
Tsotne Rogava
Sitthichai Sitsongpeenong
Alexander Stetsurenko
Warren Stevelmans
Sorin Tănăsie
Luis Tavares
Vlad Tuinov
Brazilian jiu-jitsu
Marcus Almeida
Romulo Barral
Yan Cabral
Claudio Calasans
Keenan Cornelius
Braulio Estima
Michael Langhi
Lucas Lepri
Leandro Lo
Vinny Magalhães
Augusto Mendes
Paulo Miyao
Marcos Oliveira
Felipe Pena
Jackson Sousa
Otávio Souza
Léo Vieira
Rodolfo Vieira
Gordon Ryan
See also
List of current ACA fighters
2014 in Absolute Championship Berkut
2015 in Absolute Championship Berkut
2016 in Absolute Championship Berkut
2017 in Absolute Championship Berkut
2018 in Absolute Championship Berkut
2019 in Absolute Championship Akhmat
2020 in Absolute Championship Akhmat
Notes
References
External links
ACA at Sherdog
ACB on FITE
Organizations established in 2012
Mixed martial arts organizations
Sports organizations of Russia
Mixed martial arts events lists
Kickboxing organizations
Kickboxing in Russia
Mixed martial arts in Russia
2012 establishments in Russia
Sport in Grozny