Artem Vakhitov is the last guy to defeat Alex Pereira in Kickboxing and after a dominate win on DWCS it was assumed the rival would be joining Poatan in the UFC however at least for now it appears that the rivalry is not going to continue in MMA. Vakhitov defeated Poatan in Glory Kickboxing by Decision after a split decision loss to Poatan earlier in the year.
Vakhitov transitioned to MMA in 2023 and was offered a UFC contract following a 1st round KO on DWCS last year but Vakhitov turned down the opportunity. Speaking to media Vakhitov revealed that the UFC could only offer a standard DWCS contract and that there was no room for his team to negotiate for different compensation.
With the UFC unable to negotiate on purse, Vakhitov has pivoted by to kickboxing for a june 14th fight in the Netherlands against Rico Verhoeven for the Heavyweight Glory belt. While speaking to Ariel Helwani Vakhitov said that he is still on good relations wit hthe UFC, which means there might be a possibility at his MMA return to the largest promotion again in the future.
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