Last Man to Beat Alex Pereira in Kickboxing Earns a UFC Contract

Ultimate Fighting Championship mild heavyweight kingpin
Alex
Pereira helped rival Artem
Vakhitov get into the UFC.

Vakhitov (3-1) earned a first-round technical knockout over
Islem
Masraf at
DWCS 2024: Week 9 on Tuesday. Nonetheless, UFC CEO Dana White
contemplated earlier than giving Vakhitov a contract as he didn’t anticipate
the quantity of clinching that transpired. White referred to as on his
greatest star and Vakhitov’s former foe in Pereira, who was sitting
cageside, for his opinion.

“This was an attention-grabbing combat, extra clinching than I anticipated. And
you clearly obtained the job accomplished, you bought the end. And I truly
referred to as Alex again with me to speak about this combat and your win… And
Alex mentioned you completely, positively deserve a shot within the
UFC.”

Vakhitov is a former two-time Glory kickboxing mild heavyweight
champ with 5 defenses on his resume. Vakhitov has a 1-1
head-to-head document in opposition to Pereira, who beat him through break up
determination the primary time and the Russian avenged the loss through
majority determination within the rematch.

Vakhitov made his MMA debut in 2023, the place he suffered a
first-round damage loss. He has since racked up three consecutive
first-round finishes, with the newest incomes him the UFC contract
on Tuesday.