MOSCOW, January 17, Ivan Orekhov. President of Russian MMA promotion Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA) Aleksey Yatsenko stated that Western sanctions had a negative impact on the work of the league in 2021. The ACA promotion came under sanctions at the end of 2020 as a company related to the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. «The year cannot be called simple. As you know, at the end of 2020, we came under sanctions. American sanctions. We blocked our accounts on Google, YouTube. It became difficult for the ASA to plan foreign events, the pandemic still affected our work. But we did not cancel any of the 18 tournaments, all the fighters got a job» , — Yatsenko said at a press conference in Moscow. The speaker added that, despite the difficulties, 2021 can be called successful. «We have kept the roster, we have not lost foreign fighters, American ones, despite the sanctions,» Yatsenko said.
