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Artem Vakhitov is eyeing a fight with former opponent Alex Pereira in another combat sport and a former UFC bantamweight is commenting on the possibility. Leading into his fight on Dana White's Contender Series last night, Vakhitov was leaning into his kickboxing history with Pereira.
He hoped for the UFC light heavyweight champion to keep winning before they eventually meet again while donning the smaller gloves.
In the wake of Vakhitov securing a UFC contract, an active Karate Combat fighter had some thoughts to convey.
Retweeting an MMA Junkie post where Vakhitov discussed his intentions for another Pereira fight down the line, Saidyokub Kakhramonov said:
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"F that give him Pereira right away"
Check out the tweet below:
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Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira's kickboxing history
Artem Vakhitov first stepped into a ring with Alex Pereira at Glory 77 in January 2021. Vakhitov was the Glory light heavyweight champion at the time and was aiming to make his sixth successful title defense against the interim champion of the weight category, Pereira. 'Poatan' would emerge as the unified champion after a split decision verdict from the ringside judges.
The Russia native would get his rematch not long as they would run it back in September of that same year. Vakhitov would tie up the series with a majority decision win and also began his second reign as the Glory kickboxing light heavyweight champion.
Two months after this sequel clash, Pereira would make his debut in the UFC and the rest is history. Vakhitov would not end up making his pro mixed martial arts debut until last summer. He has since punched his ticket to the UFC with three straight first-round finishes following his June 2023 debut into the sport.
The narrative is very similar to Pereira's own UFC path pursuing former kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya. It will be interesting to see how things play out after Vakhtiov's emphatic win last night over Islem Masraf.
