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Former two-time Glory light-heavyweight champion Artem Vakhitov reportedly turned down a UFC contract despite getting a strong win at Dana White's Contender Series. Vakhitov came to prominence in the world of MMA as the last man to beat former two-division UFC champion Alex Pereira.
Upon making his MMA debut in 2023, Artem Vakhitov became the subject of speculation that he's hunting down Pereira, in the same way 'Poatan' followed Israel Adesanya to the world's premiere MMA league.
With a TKO win over Islem Masraf at DWCS, it's a foregone conclusion that the Russian striker will sign the contract. And yet, he and his team decided to decline and head back over to Glory.
Championship Rounds reported on the reason on X:
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"🚨 Artem Vakhitov, former GLORY Kickboxing champion, no longer has the UFC in his immediate plans despite earning a contract on Dana White's Contender Series: 'According to UFC protocols, they were not able to offer me more than the standard contract offered to all fighters who progress through this show… My team attempted to negotiate, but the UFC rules were strict, and no changes were possible.'"
How did Artem Vakhitov do in his first fight under the UFC banner?
In October 2024, Artem Vakhitov fought Islem Masraf at Dana White's Contender Series. The 2-1 Vakhitov was pitted against 3-0 Islem Masraf.
Right off the the opening horn Masraf swung wildly and proceeded to clinch with Vakhitov, clearly trying to negate his kickboxing advantage. During the clinch battle, Vakhitov surprisingly seemed to have pulled guard but wasn't able to capitalize or use the position to his advantage.
Back on the feet, Vakhitov was able to momentarily take Masraf down and then pepper him with hard shots from clinch range. From there, the Russian kickboxing phenom obliterated his opponent with a wicked right hand that spelled the end and got him the massive TKO win.
While his grappling has a lot left to be desired, Vakhitov's piston of a right hand could surely become a problem to fighters on the roster - not just Alex Pereira.
Hopefully, he and his team find a way to get into MMA again. His style is very interesting to see against some of the more well-known prospects today. In the meantime, Vakhitov be fighting Rico Verhoeven for the Glory heavyweight title at Glory 100 on June 14.
