It's becoming a bit of a theme with GLORY kickboxers taking their rivalries over to the UFC.
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Alex Pereira has only lost seven times in 40 kickboxing fights in his career. The last person to defeat Pereira was Artyom Bahithov, who defended the light heavyweight title five times before Pereira took it from him in 2016. Bahithov avenged that loss with a very close decision victory over Pereira in 2021.
In a recent interview Mixed Martial ArtsVakhitov criticized Pereira's performance at UFC and said he would beat him again if he completed an MMA trilogy.
“he [Pereira] arrested [against Adesanya] “He gives a lot of openings to opponents who know what he's doing,” Vakhitov said. “I've beaten him before in a pure striking match, and I'm sure I can do it again if we get to a UFC trilogy.”
On July 8, Pereira responded to Vahithov's comments by commenting on an Instagram post, where he denied the loss at GLORY and said Vahithov “seemed a bit lost.”
“Hey brother… be careful of people who encourage you to do this. The same people who trained you tried to do it with me too but I'm not stupid so I didn't do it…” Pereira wrote. “As you all know, the reason they gave you the victory is because I had already spoken to GLORY that it would be my last fight with the organization and they didn't want me to walk away with the belt!”
“You seem a little lost and certainly not entrepreneurial because putting yourself out there like that is my idea!”
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No MMA fighter ever faces a current UFC champion in their pro debut. Luckily for Vakhitov, he has the experience. Vakhitov is 2-1, most recently fighting at Naiza FC on February 24th. His loss came by TKO in the first bout after he injured his arm while trying to block a takedown. See the clip below:
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