Artem Vakhitov, last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, eyes trilogy fight in UFC: "We will have all his mistakes identified"

Alex Pereira was recently challenged by Artem Vakhitov for a potential trilogy fight in UFC. Vakhitov is certain that he will eventually be the one to defeat his former opponent.

During their first kickboxing encounter in 2021, Pereira won by split decision to become GLORY's undisputed two-division champion. Eight months later, Vakhitov avenged the loss by majority decision. 'Poatan' then left the sport to join the UFC, where he won titles in two weight divisions.

Vakhitov, who switched to mixed martial arts in 2023, is eyeing for a third fight with Pereira. In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, the Russian fighter expressed his desire to fight in UFC and have another go at the Brazilian. He said:

''We are both top-level strikers, we are throwing punches, knees and kicks constantly. Watch our two fights in GLORY Kickboxing and then imagine we are in the UFC octagon with small gloves on. And I’ll be very confident for that fight. Alex will be completely analyzed by Vitaly Miller and the Kuzbass team, we will have all his mistakes identified, and I will be fully prepared to take advantage when I step in there.''

Vakhitov continued:

''Alex and I know each other well. His team and my team are in good relations and we message each other sometimes, so I am always wishing victory for him when he fights. But when it is my turn to share the octagon with him, it will be time to demonstrate finally who is the best striker. All questions will be answered on that day.'' [H/t: MMA Fighting]

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Artem Vakhitov reveals Alex Pereira's weakness while fighting

Alex Pereira rose to prominence in two combat sports due to his exceptional striking abilities and constantly improved defensive techniques. As the only fighter to win two divisions in kickboxing and MMA, he has left a significant legacy.

However, Artem Vakhitov believes that despite his excellent technique, 'Poatan' is not a perfect fighter. In the aforementioned interview, Vakhitov discussed Pereira's flaws during combat, saying:

''His [Pereira] biggest weakness is that he is all attack, he has no defense. Because of his lack of defense, he is open to taking a lot of punches to the head if he’s facing a skilled striker. You saw that in his second fight with Adesanya. He got caught because he leaves a lot of openings for people who know what they are doing.''