The bittersweet rivalry between Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya is something that the world won’t soon forget. This rivalry began in the realm of Glory Kickboxing and continued for years. After four fights, the rivalry finally ended at UFC 287, with Adesanya’s KO victory over ‘Poatan’. But ‘The Last Stylebender’ isn’t the only rival of Pereira who came to the UFC from Glory Kickboxing. 

Artem Vakhitov has fixed his eyes on the Octagon as he plans to make a debut at Dana White’s Contender Series. Given the kind of history he has with Vakhitov, Pereira was asked if the Russian kickboxer would be able to replicate the kind of story Adesanya created with ‘Poatan’. During the pre-fight press conference for UFC 307, Vakhitov was placed in front of Pereira as a possible opponent in the near future. 

The light heavyweight champ said, “Well, I stop following kickboxing. So, I kinda don’t know how he’s doing. Right? So, I don’t know what his potential. But, I think fighting me in MMA in the UFC is one thing that could be hard.” 

But Alex Pereira had his doubts about Vakhitov repeating a legacy that Israel Adesanya created. He continued, “Well people get mistaken sometimes thinking that it is easy to make a story like I did with Israel Adesanya. Guys that, you know, fight like long ago and they think they just… Bro, they are not me. They are not Israel Adesanya. Look at the whole story behind that to get to there.”

While a lot of information was lost in translation, one thing was crystal clear. And that was the amount of goodwill Pereira had for Adesanya. When Pereira’s words found their way to social media, the MMA realm took over the comments section and revealed their thoughts. No doubt, all that the fight fans felt was pride for one of their favorite mixed martial artists.

MMA world weighs in on Artem Vakhitov recreating the story of Alex Pereira and Israel Adesanya

As soon as the man with the hands of stone revealed his thoughts about his former rival and 2-time former UFC middleweight champion, the fighting community was left with no choice but to commend Pereira for the kind of respect he had for his former opponent. One fan wrote, “I love the level of respect Alex has for Izzy.”  Meanwhile, another fan commented, “Alex really shows Izzy a lot of love, honestly. That’s a real champion.” 

The rivalry between Adesanya and Pereira began at Glory of Heroes 1, 2016. It was the Brazilian fighter who won via a unanimous decision. The very next year at Glory of Heroes 7, the two faced each other for the second time. This time again, ‘Poatan’ rose victorious with a third-round knockout via a strong left hook. Adesanya must have been pretty frustrated with his defeats and he soon made his debut in the UFC. But Pereira wasn’t one to give up on a rival and he followed suit to fight the New Zealander in the Octagon. Had Vakhitov been serious about his rivalry with the Brazilian, he would have stepped into the UFC sooner. And that’s exactly what some fans believe. One of the comments read, “He right why didn’t Vakhitov try to get to the UFC sooner.”

But coming from the land of kickboxing has its demerits as well. While such fighters have impeccable striking prowess, their grappling skills are just decent enough to get them through a bout. Of course, a fight between two strikers will lack ground game. One of the fans pointed this out quoting, “I doubt either of them are shooting for takedowns so I’d imagine they’d fight the exact same style just in a octagon now.”

Despite coming from a kickboxing background, Pereira achieved great success in the UFC. While some claim that it was pure luck, others believe that it was his all because of his strength. But recreating such a legacy is nigh on impossible. One fan claimed, “Alex one of a kind Fr it’s possibly to replicate transitioning kickboxing suscess to mma, but you can’t recreate how he did it. One of a kind the goat Fr.” But can Vakhitov do the same? Some fans don’t believe that he can. One comment read, “To be honest, the kickboxing style of Vakhitov is not the one that translates well to MMA.”

However, many wondered that if Vakhitov could defeat Pereira in kickboxing, he could indeed walk through him in an MMA cage. But the fight fans didn’t believe that Vakhitov really deserved the win over Pereira via decision. One of the fans said, “Their last fight was rigged against Alex lol just watch the ref and dude got a bs decision.” Meanwhile, another fan typed in, “Not even close to the same thing Vahkitov has 1 decision win over alex that glory gifted him even though he lost because they knew Alex was going to the ufc.”

The Brazilian champion has nothing but UFC 307 in his mind. After all, he is set to fight the formidable Khalil Rountree Jr. With guidance from Glover Teixeira and sparring sessions with the strongest of teammates, Pereira aims to stay on top of the LHW division. And if Vakhitov’s UFC debut goes well, we might just see him and Pereira fight once again. 

Who do you think would win if Vakhitov and Pereira fought in the Octagon? Do you agree with what Pereira had to say about his rivalry with Adesanya? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.