Another week another set of fights for Dana White’s Contender Series where fighters get the chance to earn UFC contracts. This week was particularly notable for one main reason Artem Vakhitov and his relation to Alex Pereira.
Alex Pereira Promotes Former Kickboxing Foe Artem Vakhitov
Vakhitov is a Russian former kickboxer who used to compete in Glory. Glory is one of the most highly regarded kickboxing organisations at the moment and is where Alex Pereira came from. It is pretty common knowledge that Pereira was a double champion in Glory at 185lbs and 205lbs. Well, Vakhitov was also a fellow light heavyweight champion at Glory and encountered Pereira.
Pereira and Vakhitov fought twice at the end of Pereira’s kickboxing career in 2021. Both fights were competitive matches that ended with both men being one a piece. Pereira defeated Vakhitov in their first bout to claim the 205 strap in Glory. Then Vakhitov reclaimed the belt in their next bout. And interestingly enough both decisions were deemed controversial.
So when it was announced that Vakhitov would be fighting at 205 on the Contender series people’s interests were peaked including Pereira. Pereira was ringside for Vakhitov’s fight against Islem Masraf.
Dana White’s Contender Series
The bout was initially quite a cagey affair with quite a bit of clinching and grappling. However, late into the round Vakhitov showed his kickboxing pedigree landing a big right hand wobbling Masraf. Vakhitov would then land ground and pound securing a first round finish at 4 minutes and 23 seconds. Although, not a stunning performance Vakhitov got the job done and was impressive for someone with as little MMA experience as himself. This win puts Vakhitov at a 3-1 MMA record.
Following this win White would award Vakhitov with a UFC contract but this was partially due to Alex Pereira. As part of the announcement over who would join the roster Dana White said, “So, this was an interesting fight, more clinching than I expected and you obviously got the job done, got the finish and I actually called Alex back with me to talk about this fight and your win.” This revealed Pereira’s involvement.
Mr White would then say, “Obviously, you have a tonne of experience, like 30-something pro fights not including MMA, and Alex said that you absolutely, positively deserve a shot in the UFC… So, thank you Alex Pereira, and get over here Artem.” Now this is very wholesome Pereira putting in a word for his former opponent which clearly had some impact on Dana.
Press Conference Talk
Dana White would reveal the specifics of what Pereira said to him in the post-fight press conference. White said, “He said ‘Obviously a little more clinching than you’d expect, you would expect the other guy to clinch with him, not him clinching’ – but he said this is what I think, ‘I think he’s talented enough, and I think he deserves to be here, he’s had a tonne of fights in his career.”
He continued revealing, “But he said ‘I think the Contender Series, no matter where you fought or what you’ve done, it puts a different type of pressure on you that you might not perform the way you normally would. He thinks that this is a tremendous amount of pressure, and he said, ‘All I know is that I’m glad I didn’t have to go through the Contender Series.’”
So, Pereira believes that Artem Vakhitov is a UFC calibre fighter. Despite Vakhitov’s performance not being amazing that he is still a very good fighter, He also believes the pressure may have impacted Vakhitov which is very possible. And, this was enough for White to be convinced.
We shall see where Vakhitov’s career goes from here. He did show promise and Pereira believes that he can compete at the UFC. Can he go all the way remains to be seen as we await Artem Vakhitov’s UFC debut.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
