Absolute Championship Akhmat

Absolute Championship Akhmat

Current season, competition or edition: 2024 in Absolute Championship Akhmat
Sport	Mixed martial arts
Founded	2014; 10 years ago (2014)
Founder	Mairbek Khasiev
Country	Russia
Headquarters	Grozny, Chechnya
Official 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 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.^[2] 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.^[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]

Roster

List of events

Current champions

Mixed martial arts

Division	Champion	Since	Defenses
Heavyweight	Evgeniy Goncharov	March 17, 2023	1
Light Heavyweight	Vacant
Middleweight	Magomedrasul Gasanov	April 9, 2021	4
Welterweight	Albert Tumenov	December 24, 2023	0
Lightweight	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov	September 19, 2020	2
Featherweight	Islam Omarov	July 21, 2023	1
Bantamweight	Oleg Borisov	March 26, 2022	1
Flyweight	Kurban Gadzhiev	February 25, 2023	0

Rankings

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

• Updated as of March 17, 2024.

ACA Rankings
Rank	Heavyweight	Light Heavyweight	Middleweight	Welterweight
C	Evgeniy Goncharov		Magomedrasul Gasanov	Albert Tumenov
1	Alikhan Vakhaev	Muslim Magomedov	Salamu Abdurahmanov	Ustarmagomed Gadzhidaudov
2	Mukhumat Vakhaev	Grigor Matevosyan	Shamil Abdulaev	Abubakar Vagaev 1
3	Adam Bogatyrev 4	Adlan Ibragimov 6	Abdul-Rahman Dzhanaev	Chersi Dudaev 2
4	Kirill Kornilov 1	Leonardo Silva 1	Ibragim Magomedov	Anatoliy Boyko 2
5	Anton Vyazigin	Faridun Odilov 1	Artem Frolov	Uzair Abdurakov
6	Tony Johnson Jr.	Mikhail Mokhnatkin	Vitaly Nemchinov	Andrei Koshkin 2
7	Ruslan Medzhidov	Elmar Gasanov	Murad Abdulaev	Khuseyn Khaliev
8	Salimgirey Rasulov 4	Evgeny Erokhin	Husein Kushagov	Ruslan Kolodko
9	Denis Smoldarev 1	Oleg Olenichev 1	Mikhail Dolgov	Altynbek Mamashov
10	Carlos Felipe 1	Murat Gugov 1	Nikola Dipchikov	Edil Esengulov
Rank	Lightweight	Featherweight	Bantamweight	Flyweight
C	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov	Islam Omarov	Oleg Borisov	Kurban Gadzhiev
1	Daud Shakhaev	Alihan Suleimanov	Magomed Bibulatov	Imran Bukuev
2	Mukhamed Kokov	Bibert Tumenov	Rustam Kerimov	Azam Gaforov
3	Ali Bagov	Apti Bimarzaev 1	Akhmed Musakaev	Azamat Kerefov
4	Yusuf Raisov	Alexey Polpudnikov 1	Mehdi Baidulaev 1	Azamat Pshukov
5	Artem Reznikov	Kurban Taygibov 1	Maharbek Karginov 1	Aren Akopyan 1
6	Herdeson Batista	Gleb Khabibulin 1	Josiel Silva	Rasul Albaskhanov 1
7	Amirkhan Adaev	Carlos Augusto 1	Aleksandr Podlesniy 1	Yunus Evloev
8	Alexander Matmuratov	Marcos Rodrigues 1	Pavel Vitruk 1	Askar Askarov
9	Davi Ramos	Davlatmand Chuponov 1	Alimardan Abdykaarov 1	Alan Gomes De Castro
10	Vener Galiev	Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev	Murad Kalamov	Ruslan Abiltarov

Championship history

Mixed martial arts

Heavyweight Championship

over 93 kg (over 205 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defenses
1	Zelimkhan Umiev def. Israfil Makhashev	ACB 9 Grozny, Russia	Jun 22, 2014	594 days
2	Salimgerey Rasulov	ACB 29 Warsaw, Poland	Feb 6, 2016	244 days
3	Denis Goltsov	ACB 50 Saint Petersburg, Russia	Dec 18, 2016	244 days
4	Mukhomad Vakhaev	ACB 67 Grozny, Russia	Aug 19, 2017	742 days	1. def. Sergey Bilostenniy at ACB 90 on Nov 10, 2018
ACB and WFCA merged on November 28, 2018 to become ACA.
Evgeniy Goncharov and Tony Johnson Jr. fought to a no contest at ACA 96, leaving the belt vacated.[7]
5	Evgeniy Goncharov def. Tony Johnson Jr.	ACA 97 Krasnodar, Russia	Aug 31, 2019	174 days
6	Mukhamad Vakhaev	ACA 104 Krasnodar, Russia	Feb 21, 2020	? days
Mukhamad Vakhaev vacated the title in March 2020 when he chose to test the free agency after the end of his contract with ACA.
7	Tony Johnson Jr. def. Daniel Omielańczuk	ACA 114 Łódź, Poland	Nov 26, 2020	485 days	1. def. Dmitry Poberezhets at ACA 121 on Apr 23, 2021 2. def. Mukhumat Vakhaev at ACA 132 on Nov 19, 2021
8	Salimgerey Rasulov	ACA 138 Grozny, Russia	Mar 26, 2022	154 days
9	Alikhan Vakhaev	ACA 143 Krasnodar, Russia	Aug 27, 2022	202 days
10	Evgeniy Goncharov (2)	ACA 154 Krasnodar, Russia	Mar 17, 2023	373 days (incumbent)	1. def. Anton Vyazigin at ACA 170 on Feb 9, 2024

Light Heavyweight Championship

93 kg (205 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defenses
1	Gadzhimurad Antigulov def. Ruslan Khaskhanov	ACB 9 Grozny, Russia	Jun 22, 2014	? days	1. def. Muslim Makhmudov at ACB 35 on May 6, 2016
Antigulov vacated the title when he signed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
2	Thiago Silva def. Jared Ferguson	ACB 51 Irvine, California, U.S.	Jan 13, 2017	190 days
3	Batraz Agnaev	ACB 65 Sheffield, England	Jul 22, 2017	287 days
4	Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov	ACB 86 Moscow, Russia	May 5, 2018	207 days
ACB and WFCA merged on November 28, 2018 to become ACA.
5	Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov def. Karol Celinski	ACA 92 Warsaw, Poland	Feb 16, 2019	675 days	1. def. Alexey Butorin at ACA 103 on Dec 14, 2019
Yagshimuradov vacated the title on December 22, 2020 when he signed for Bellator MMA.[8]
6	Muslim Magomedov def. Evgeny Egemberdiev	ACA 126 Sochi, Russia	Jul 16, 2021	982 days (incumbent)	1. def. Grigor Matevosyan at ACA 137 on Mar 6, 2022 2. def. Oleg Olenichev at ACA 148 on Nov 18, 2022

Middleweight Championship

84 kg (185 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defenses
1	Anatoly Tokov def. Arbi Aguev	ACB 38 Rostov-on-Don, Russia	May 20, 2016
Tokov vacated the title on October 1, 2016 when he signed for M-1 Global due to a contract dispute.[9]
2	Albert Duraev def. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky	ACB 77 Moscow, Russia	Dec 23, 2017	? days	1. def. Piotr Strus at ACB 89 on Sept. 8, 2018
ACB and WFCA merged on November 28, 2018 to become ACA.
3	Salamu Abdurakhmanov def. Brett Cooper	ACA 95 Moscow, Russia	Apr 27, 2019	? days	1. def. Valery Myasnikov at ACA 102 on Nov 29, 2019
—	Magomedrasul Gasanov def. Nikola Dipchikov	ACA 121 Minsk, Belarus	Apr 9, 2021	—
Abdurakhmanov vacated the title due to health reasons
4	Magomedrasul Gasanov promoted to undisputed champion	ACA 121 Minsk, Belarus	Apr 9, 2021	1080 days (incumbent)	1. def. Abdul-Rakhman Dzhanaev at ACA 135 on Jan 28, 2022 2. def. Artem Frolov at ACA 143 on Aug 27, 2022 3. def. Salamu Abdurakhmanov at ACA 161 on Aug 11, 2023 4. def. Ibragim Magomedov at ACA 171 on Feb 25, 2024

Welterweight Championship

77 kg (170 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defenses
1	Albert Duraev def. Ustarmagomed Gadzhidaudov	ACB 22 Saint Petersburg, Russia	Sep 12, 2015	? days	1. def. Michail Tsarev at ACB 35 on May 6, 2016
Duraev was stripped of the title due to him missing weight and his eventual move up to Middleweight.
2	Brett Cooper def. Aslambek Saidov	ACB 50 Saint Petersburg, Russia	Dec 18, 2016	244 days
3	Mukhamed Berkhamov	ACB 67 Grozny, Russia	Aug 19, 2017	? days
Berkhamov was stripped of the title after his refusal to accept 3 title defense match ups.
4	Albert Tumenov def. Ciro Rodrigues	ACB 89 Krasnodar, Russia	Sep 8, 2018	81 days
ACB and WFCA merged on November 28, 2018 to become ACA.
5	Albert Tumenov def. Murad Abdulaev	ACA 95 Moscow, Russia	Apr 27, 2019	216 days	1. def. Beslan Ushukov at ACA 102 on Nov 29, 2019
Tumenov vacated the title in November 2019 when he chose to test the free agency after the end of his contract with ACA.
6	Murad Abdulaev def. Ali Bagov	ACA 110 Moscow, Russia	Sep 5, 2020	174 days
7	Abubakar Vagaev	ACA 118 Moscow, Russia	Feb 26, 2021	658 days
8	Vitaly Slipenko	ACA 149 Moscow, Russia	Dec 16, 2022	217 days
9	Ustarmagomed Gadzhidaudov	ACA 160 Moscow, Russia	Jul 21, 2023	156 days
10	Albert Tumenov (2)	ACA 168 Moscow, Russia	December 24, 2023	91 days (incumbent)

Lightweight Championship

70 kg (155 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defenses
1	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov def. Ali Bagov	ACB 9 Grozny, Russia	Jun 22, 2014	1539 days	1. def. Eduard Vartanyan at ACB 32 on Mar 26, 2016 2. def. Ali Bagov at ACB 48 on Oct 22, 2016 3. def. interim champion Eduard Vartanyan at ACB 77 on Dec 23, 2017
—	Eduard Vartanyan def. Andrey Koshkin for interim title	ACB 71 Moscow, Russia	Sep 30, 2017	—
2	Ali Bagov	ACB 89 Krasnodar, Russia	Sep 8, 2018	81 days
ACB and WFCA merged on November 28, 2018 to become ACA.
3	Ali Bagov def. Khuseyn Khaliev	ACA 99 Moscow, Russia	Sep 27, 2019	? days
Title vacated after Bagov moved up to welterweight.
4	Abdul-Aziz Abdulvakhabov (2) def. Alexander Sarnavskiy	ACA 111 Moscow, Russia	Sep 19, 2020	1282 days (incumbent)	1. def. Hacran Dias at ACA 131 on Nov 5, 2021 2. def. interim champion Mukhamed Kokov at ACA 164 on Oct 4, 2023
—	Mukhamed Kokov def. Hacran Dias for interim title	ACA 154 Krasnodar, Russia	Mar 17, 2023	—

Featherweight Championship

66 kg (145 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defenses
1	Zabit Magomedsharipov def. Sheikh-Magomed Arapkhanov	ACB 31 Grozny, Russia	Mar 29, 2016	137 days	1. def. Valdines Silva at ACB 45 on September 17, 2016
Magomedsharipov vacated the title on May 4, 2017 when he signed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
2	Marat Balayev def. Yusuf Raisov	ACB 50 Saint Petersburg, Russia	Dec 18, 2016	503 days	1. def. Adlan Bataev at ACB 61 on May 20, 2017
—	Yusuf Raisov def. Alexander Peduson	ACB 77 Moscow, Russia	Dec 23, 2017	—
3	Yusuf Raisov	ACB 86 Moscow, Russia	May 5, 2018	207 days
ACB and WFCA merged on November 28, 2018 to become ACA.
4	Salman Zhamaldaev def. Marat Balaev	ACA 93 Saint Petersburg, Russia	Mar 16, 2019	202 days
5	Felipe Froes	ACA 100 Grozny, Russia	Oct 4, 2019	539 days
Froes was stripped of the title on March 26, 2021 after failing to make weight for his title defense against Magomedrasul Khasbulaev at ACA 120.
6	Magomedrasul Khasbulaev def. Felipe Froes	ACA 120 Saint Petersburg, Russia	Mar 26, 2021	? days	1. def. Ramazan Kishev at ACA 131 on Nov 5, 2021
—	Alikhan Suleymanov def. Felipe Froes	AC1 141 Sochi, Russia	Jul 22, 2022	—
Khasbulaev was stripped of the title after he pulled out of three bouts against Suleymanov. Suleymanov was subsequently promoted to undisputed champion.
7	Alikhan Suleymanov def. Felipe Froes	ACA 141 Sochi, Russia	Jul 22, 2022	364 days
8	Islam Omarov	ACA 160 Moscow, Russia	Jul 21, 2023	247 days (incumbent)	1. def. Alexey Polpudnikov at ACA 171 on Feb 25, 2024

Bantamweight Championship

61 kg (135 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defense
1	Magomed Magomedov def. Petr Yan	ACB 32 Moscow, Russia	Mar 26, 2016	385 days	1. def. Oleg Borisov at ACB 50 on Dec 18, 2016
2	Petr Yan	ACB 57 Moscow, Russia	Apr 15, 2017	290 days	1. def. Matheus Mattos at ACB 71 on Sep 30, 2017
Yan vacated the title on January 30, 2018 when he signed for the Ultimate Fighting Championship.
3	Rustam Kerimov def. Oleg Borisov	ACB 83 Baku, Azerbaijan	Mar 24, 2018	249 days
ACB and WFCA merged on November 28, 2018 to become ACA.
4	Rustam Kerimov def. Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev	ACA 93 Saint Petersburg, Russia	Mar 16, 2019	? days	1. def. Francisco Maciel at ACA 103 on Dec 14, 2019
Kerimov vacated the title in December 2019 when he chose to test the free agency after the end of his contract with ACA.
5	Daniel Oliveira def. Shamil Shakhbulatov	ACA 105 Almaty, Kazakhstan	Mar 6, 2020	385 days	1. def. Abdul-Rakhman Dudaev at ACA 112 on Oct 4, 2020
6	Magomed Bibulatov	ACA 120 Saint Petersburg, Russia	Mar 26, 2021	365 days
7	Oleg Borisov	ACA 138 Grozny, Russia	Mar 26, 2022	729 days (incumbent)	1. def. Rustam Kerimov at ACA 154 on Mar 17, 2023

Flyweight Championship

57 kg (125 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Reign (total)	Defense
1	Askar Askarov def. José Maria Tomé	ACB 48 Moscow, Russia	Oct 22, 2016	767 days	1. def. Anthony Leone at ACB 58 on Apr 22, 2017 2. def. Rasul Albaskhanov at ACB 86 on May 5, 2018
ACB and WFCA merged on November 28, 2018 to become ACA.
2	Yunus Evloev def. Josiel Silva	ACA 95 Moscow, Russia	Apr 27, 2019	? days	1. def. Azam Gaforov at ACA 99 on Sep 27, 2019
Evloev vacated the title in December 2019 for health reasons.
3	Azamat Kerefov def. Mansur Khatuev	ACA 104 Krasnodar, Russia	Feb 21, 2020	597 days	1. def. Kurban Gadzhiev at ACA 113 on Nov 6, 2020 2. def. Rasul Albaskhanov at ACB 127 on Aug 28, 2021
Kerefov vacated the title on October 10, 2021 when he chose to test the free agency.
4	Imran Bukuev def. Aren Akopyan	ACA 136 Moscow, Russia	Feb 26, 2022	364 days
5	Kurban Gadzhiev	ACA 152 Grozny, Russia	Feb 25, 2023	393 days (incumbent)

Kickboxing

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

84 kg (185 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

Brazilian jiu-jitsu

GI Heavyweight Championship

120 kg (265 lb)

No.	Name	Event	Date	Defenses
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

GI 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

Notable fighters

Mixed martial arts

Kickboxing

Brazilian jiu-jitsu

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

This page was last edited on 24 March 2024, at 03:58