Before embracing his championship journey under the bright lights of UFC, Alex Pereira was the crown jewel of Glory Kickboxing. Being the first-ever dual-weight champion in Glory, there was no one to challenge him until he met Artem Vakhitov. ‘Poatan’ locked horns against the Russian to defend his light heavyweight glory belt and Vakhitov took the Brazilin in a spiral as he clinched the victory by way of a majority decision. ‘Poatan’ might have left Glory kickboxing after the bout but the ghosts of the bygone day seem to be calling him out now.

After staying silent for years, Artem Vakhitov has come forward to criticize the entire UFC for not being able to defeat Alex Pereira. The Russian took shots at the entire LHW division in his approach to challenge the dominance of Pereira, “They aren’t confident against him and they think he’s unbeatable, so in their heart, they are already defeated before the fight starts. But I have beaten him before in pure striking competition, and I am sure I’ll do it again if we can get our trilogy match in the UFC.”

Pereira took cognizance of his words and asserted that he only won the second fight against him because of the fact that Glory Kickboxing knew that he was leaving and did not want him to leave with the belt. Regardless, rumors are floating around that the UFC supremo, Dana White is planning to have their trilogy match at the UFC.

Reports from trusted sources state that Dana White is planning to bring in Vakhitov to contest at the DWCS. The Russian started his MMA career in 2023 and it seems like he will mark his debut in the UFC soon. This back-and-forth between the formal rivals has shaken the entire MMA community. Let us have a look at what the fans are talking about.

MMA fans react to the forthcoming storm between Alex Pereira and Artem Vakhitov

Alex Pereira fought Artem Vakhitov twice in his kickboxing career. The duo has a 1-1 record against each other. Pereira in his take to counter the Russian’s word stated that he was just given the victory because the promotion wanted him to have it, “Everybody knows that when they gave you the win it is because Glory knew that would be my last fight in the Organization and they didn’t want me to leave with the belt!” A social media fan explained the same thing.

“Bruh they robbed pereira and it was a split decision he only lost because glory knew he was leaving”

Vakhitov is a bit smaller in size in comparison to Pereira, however, this never stopped him from getting the victory against ‘Poatan’ at Glory 78 at Rotterdam, Netherlands on September 21, 2021. If we were to compare their height then Pereira stands at a massive 6″4 while on the other hand, Vakhitov is 6″1. A fan is just awestruck by the fact that despite his smaller stature, Vakhitov clinched victory against Pereira.

“The scary thing is, he didn’t even beat him at middleweight but ah LHW”

After Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira, Artem Vakhitov could become the third Glory Kickboxing champion to set his mark on the promotion.

“Great we about to have 3 glory demons in the ufc bruh”

Adesanya’s nemesis was Pereira and now we are witnessing the same storyline all over again with Vakhitov. Will he be able to rekindle the story?

“Perreira has his own Perreira” 

Furthermore, a social media fan illuminated that Pereira in the UFC has improved his game to such a level that if he were to face Pereira from his kickboxing days then he would have defeated him.

“Alex Pereira would now kill the Alex Pereira from Glory. that dude stayed at that level. he is in for a bad awakening. let it happen”

Last but not least, when Yousri Belgaroui came to the DWCS, there was hype that he would also defeat Pereira as he had already beaten him back in his kickboxing days but the reality was a bit different as he was defeated by Marco Tulio.

“Y’all remember Yousri Belgaroui? Don’t get your hopes up”

A trilogy between Alex Pereira and Artem Vakhitov can give rise to a tri-way rivalry between Pereira, Vakhitov, and Adesanya. It would be good for the promotion but only if the Russian gets past DWCS. What’s your take on the entire fiasco? State your thoughts in the comments below.