Origins in the Berkut Fight Club (2009-2014)
The roots of the promotion lie in the Berkut Fight Club, which Chechen sports activist Mairbek Khasiev established in Grozny in 2009 to develop young regional fighters and give them a competitive outlet. Building on that base, Khasiev founded the professional MMA league Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB) in early 2014. The organization's first numbered event, ACB 1: Grand Prix Berkut 2014, was held on March 2, 2014, at the Berkut Fight Club in Grozny, launching grand-prix style tournaments across multiple weight divisions. From the outset the promotion fielded its own team, Fight Club Berkut, which included fighters such as Magomed Bibulatov, Beslan Isaev, Musa Khamanaev and Aslambek Saidov.
Rapid expansion as ACB (2014-2018)
Over the following years ACB grew quickly into one of the leading promotions in Europe, running events on television networks including Match TV and Polsat Sport and developing fighter-exchange relationships with promotions such as KSW and The Cage. The promotion staged events well beyond Russia, holding cards across more than a dozen countries including the United States, England, Germany, Poland, Brazil, Australia, Canada, Austria, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Tajikistan. By 2017 ACB had organized more than two dozen events internationally, building a deep roster across MMA weight classes while also running Brazilian jiu-jitsu and kickboxing programs.
Mergers and rebrand to ACA (2018)
In 2018 the Chechen MMA landscape was consolidated. On September 12, 2018, Khasiev announced ACB's acquisition of the Krasnodar-based promotion Tech-Krep FC, which subsequently ceased independent operations. On November 28, 2018, Chechen Republic leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced that ACB would merge with the World Fighting Championship Akhmat (WFCA). The combined entity was rebranded in December 2018 as Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA), unifying the rosters and operations of the promotions under the Akhmat name, a reference to Akhmat Kadyrov. Following the merger, former champion Magomed Bibulatov took on a leadership role as president of the organization.
Sanctions and the modern era (2019-present)
As ACA, the promotion continued to operate primarily out of Grozny while staging international cards, retaining MMA divisions from flyweight to heavyweight alongside its kickboxing and BJJ programs. On December 20, 2020, the United States imposed sanctions connected to the organization's ties to Ramzan Kadyrov, prohibiting U.S. persons and companies from doing business with it; the measure prevented American fighters from competing, with figures such as Brett Cooper withdrawing from scheduled bouts. ACA has nonetheless remained the largest MMA promotion in Russia and a prominent regional platform, regularly producing champions who go on to sign with the UFC, and continues to run numbered events and grand-prix tournaments to the present day.