The last man to beat Alex Pereira in the kickboxing ring, Artem Vakhitov, has turned down an offer to fight with the UFC.
On October 8, 2024, at Dana White’s Contender Series 71, the Russian produced a sublime performance, knocking out Islem Masraf in the first round.
However, rather than taking the promotion up on an offer to go full-time, he’s instead returned to kickboxing. At Glory 100, Vakhitov will fight Rico Verhoeven, thus ruining Francis Ngannou’s hopes of a showdown with the Dutchman, at least for the time being.
And the reason behind this decision is extremely interesting.
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Artem Vakhitov was not happy with what the UFC was offering
During an interview on the Ariel Helwani Show, Artem Vakhitov candidly discussed why he has not signed with the UFC.
Ultimately, the fighter and the organization could not come to terms, as he apparently wasn’t being offered anything different from any other competitor coming through Dana White’s Contender Series.
The striker explained: “Unfortunately, we couldn’t reach an agreement with UFC. Because they have their own protocol, but we still have good relations with them, so that’s it.
“Now we’re announcing a big fight against Rico Verhoeven. I think Rico doesn’t need to be [explained as an opponent] because he’s well known and, for sure, we wanted this fight a long time ago. For me, it’s a good opportunity to become a double champion, and it was in my mind a very long time ago.
“UFC always works off a standard contract after Dana White’s Contender Series. Unfortunately, we could not reach an agreement, or [there were] some things we couldn’t agree [on].
“When we got an offer [from GLORY] and we saw the news that all the Russian fighters are coming back to GLORY, we got an offer to fight against Rico and probably the possibility to become a double champion, we agreed very easily. And for sure, for good money, why not?”
Magomed Ankalaev offers update on Alex Pereira rematch
While Vakhitov is revelling in the opportunity to become a two-weight Glory kickboxing champion, his old foe, Alex Pereira, is determined to claim his second UFC title back.
In March, ‘Poatan’ lost his belt in a close-fought contest with Magomed Ankalaev.
The pair produced an enthralling encounter, that left the fans split on who should’ve gotten the win.
Now, Ankalaev has given an update on whether he’ll rematch Pereira.