Alex Pereira has issued a warning to former kickboxing rival Artyom Bakhitov.
Pereira and Vahithov have both competed under the GLORY kickboxing banner twice, and UFC light heavyweight champion Pereira's move to MMA has been nothing short of spectacular, with Vahithov hoping to follow in his footsteps.
Vakhitov, a two-time GLORY light heavyweight champion who is 2-1 since moving to mixed martial arts in 2023, is confident he can beat Pereira inside the cage, claiming that “Poitan” is all about offense and no defense.
Pereira responded to the Russian fighter in the comments section of his Instagram post (via MMA Fighting ).
“Hey brother, be careful of people encouraging you with this idea. The same people advising you to do it did the same to me but I'm not stupid so I didn't do it. LOL. As we all know, the reason they gave you the win (at GLORY in 2021) is because GLORY knew it would be my last match with the organization and didn't want me to leave with the belt!”
“The fact that you've put yourself out there like this means you're a bit lost and you almost certainly don't have a manager. That's what I think. You should send a message to Joinha (Jorge Guimarães, Pereira's manager). I think he will help you. Chama.”
Pereira, ranked No. 1 in the latest USA Today Sports/MMA Junkie pound-for-pound rankings, is fresh off the second defense of his light heavyweight title with a head kick knockout of Jiri Prochazka in a rematch at UFC 303.
After losing his MMA debut, Vakhitov rode two straight wins to a win over Barisher Khambayev in just 23 seconds in February.
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie.
