A Kazakh fighter finds himself in a confrontation with the Russian MMA league.

Kazakh mixed martial artist Artem Reznikov has found himself in a conflict with the Russian league ACA, as reported by Caravan.kz.

The essence of the conflict with Reznikov was revealed by ACA Vice President Aslanbek Badaev. In an interview with RB-Sport, Badaev stated that the ACA league is in confrontation with Artem due to his refusal to fight Russian fighter Yusuf Raisov at ACA 182 for health reasons.

“We are trying to convey that this is too significant a fight to simply cancel. In the case of Anis Yekubov and Uzair Abdurakhov, everything is obvious—they were taken to the hospital, lying down and writhing in pain. But here you say, ‘I won’t fight.’ Only you know how bad you feel, but the doctor believes you can fight. The doctor doesn’t say you are one hundred percent ready, but you can compete. Moreover, Yusup Umarov fought on the card, even though he had a fever close to 40 degrees just four days before the match. He lost. Apparently, Artem chose the path of not wanting to lose. It was crucial and important for him not to enter the fight unprepared. At the same time, Raisov also faced issues. He had two difficult nights and felt unwell, to the point where they were considering calling an ambulance. No one steps into the cage absolutely ready. It’s a matter of choice. We just wanted Artem to try to save this fight,” Badaev stated.

He clarified that the league, in turn, rejected the option of holding the Raisov-Reznikov fight without weight restrictions for the athletes, as “a specific weight needs to be established.”

Earlier, Artem Reznikov explained his latest defeat to Kuat Khamitov.