Artem Vakhitov won his fight on Dana White’s Contender Series this past October and he was immediately offered a contract to join the UFC roster, but ultimately passed after the two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on terms.
While the UFC typically offers every fighter the same deal coming off that series, Vakhitov felt like he should have some room to negotiate given his status as a five-time defending GLORY kickboxing champion—not to mention his history with Alex Pereira. The Russian actually defeated the former UFC light heavyweight champion in Pereira’s final kickboxing match and it seemed like the stage was set for a potential reunion in the UFC.
Unfortunately, that never happened with Vakhitov passing on the UFC’s offer and instead signing to return to his old stomping grounds at GLORY instead.
“Of course, there was a bit of disappointment because we were approaching that goal for quite some time [in the UFC],” Vakhitov told MMA Fighting through a Russian translator. “At the same time, we also wanted to have something honorable, so good conditions for all of us and finally to get to Alex Pereira. But as we say, everything happens for the best, so no problem.”
Ideally, Vakhitov would have followed the same formula Pereira did coming to the UFC when he had two wins over then-middleweight champion Israel Adesanya.
Pereira earned plenty of recognition from those past wins and then he picked up three victories in the UFC before he knocked out Adesanya to become middleweight champion in just his fourth fight with the promotion. Doing the Contender Series, Vakhitov felt like he was going to walk a similar path, especially after the UFC caught him speaking to Pereira backstage after his win.
But Vakhitov and his team couldn’t come to terms with the UFC on a deal they felt was fair and he decided not to sign with them. Still, Vakhitov isn’t closing the door on potentially working with the UFC again one day or possibly returning to MMA.
“It can be, it’s very possible because the story is not over,” Vakhitov said. “We’re going to have this fight and let’s see afterwards.”
As far as his rivalry with Pereira goes, it was just a few months after Vakhitov was offered his UFC contract that “Poaton” lost his light heavyweight title to Magomed Ankalaev by decision. All signs point towards a rematch sometime in 2025 and Vakhitov expects Pereira to get his revenge.
“Of course, I was watching [Pereira vs. Ankalaev],” Vakhitov said. “I think Alex did well with the production but he didn’t do his best. So it was not enough of what he has done. I think that the next fight that they’re going to have, the result will be the opposite.”
After passing on the UFC’s offer, Vakhitov was pleased GLORY came calling with a chance to return to the kickboxing world, but even he didn’t expect his first fight back to come against reigning heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven.
The Dutch legend is widely recognized as the top kickboxer on the planet with a ridiculous reign as champion having been at the top of the mountain for more than 4,000 days and with a remarkable winning streak to boot. The fight presents a lot of challenges, especially since Vakhitov is a natural light heavyweight, but he’s excited to test himself against somebody like Verhoeven at GLORY 100 on Saturday.
“He’s a very good fighter,” Vakhitov said about Verhoeven. “We all saw the knockdowns he’s had and how fast he was recovering. I would call him ‘Braveheart’ but he never had an opponent as good as I am. Fast, quick, sly and now we will try to interrupt his [winning streak].
“I’ve never had any issues fighting with guys who are bigger, taller, who have bigger weights than I do. I’ve always been challenging myself trying to fight with such opponents. So it was not a surprise for me and I feel absolutely comfortable.”
While Vakhitov is giving up some physical advantages to his bigger opponent, he’s confident he can give Verhoeven problems many heavyweights have been unable to do during his reign as champion. He’s counting on those skills to help him pull off the upset and vanquish Verhoeven in impressive fashion.
“First of all, I rely on the speed, some kind of combination with the movement and my power is in that,” Vakhitov said. “The tactics and I think he will like it. I think he will like how I fight.”
