Another week, another fabulous night of action from Dana White’s Contender Series; with this latest episode ending in a brutal first-round knockout, courtesy of the last man to beat Alex Pereira over in kickboxing.
In fact, the light heavyweight champion sat cageside to watch his former rival compete and was even forced to play negotiator as he convinced Dana White to sign him to the UFC.
Artem Vakhitov earns first-round knockout on Dana White’s Contender Series
Artem Vakhitov, the last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, earned a spot on the UFC roster last night with a vicious first-round knockout of French hopeful Islem Masraf.
After a surprisingly slow opening few minutes, Vakhitov would find his groove just 50 seconds before the horn; landing a stunning overhand right to wobble Masraf before following up with ground-and-pound.
Whilst the knockout was indeed impressive, it turns out that Dana White still needed convincing that Vakhitov deserved a UFC contract – step up to the plate, Alex Pereira.
Dana White reveals Alex Pereira convinced him to sign Vakhitov to the UFC
Speaking with Laura Sanko as he announced who’d earned a spot on the UFC roster, Dana White would admit that he was a little taken aback by how much Vakhitov wanted to engage in the grappling; and that he needed Alex Pereira to persuade him into offering a UFC contract.
“So, this was an interesting fight, more clinching than I expected and you obviously got the job done, got the finish and I actually called Alex back with me to talk about this fight and your win.
“Obviously, you have a tonne of experience, like 30-something pro fights not including MMA, and Alex said that you absolutely, positively deserve a shot in the UFC… So, thank you Alex Pereira, and get over here Artem.”
At the post-fight press conference, White would offer more details as to how Alex Pereira convinced him to sign his former kickboxing nemesis – with his UFC light heavyweight champion admitting that the format of the show heaps a tonne of added pressure on athletes.
“He said ‘Obviously a little more clinching than you’d expect, you would expect the other guy to clinch with him, not him clinching’ – but he said this is what I think, ‘I think he’s talented enough, and I think he deserves to be here, he’s had a tonne of fights in his career.’
“But he said ‘I think the Contender Series, no matter where you fought or what you’ve done, it puts a different type of pressure on you that you might not perform the way you normally would… He thinks that this is a tremendous amount of pressure, and he said, ‘All I know is that I’m glad I didn’t have to go through the Contender Series.’”
Despite Vakhitov and Pereira having an intense rivalry over in GLORY kickboxing, it appears that the hatchet has been well and truly buried with the UFC cameras later catching the two sharing a light-hearted moment backstage.
“To be honest, I’m very happy to see you winning and I love what’s happening with you over here,” Vakhitov said through his translator.
“So just keep doing it, keep winning and I’ll be watching, I’ll be focused on myself but hopefully after a few more defenses, it will happen, so they’ll meet each other again.”
Vakhitov noted that there was “Nothing but respect, all love, it’s just sport,” regarding a potential rematch in the octagon; although Pereira was happy to acknowledge that “You owe me one,” after helping him secure a UFC contract.
With the win, Vakhitov improves his professional MMA record to 3-1.
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