Last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing explains how to beat 'Poatan' in MMA ahead of Dana White's Contender Series debut
04/09/2024 10:45
The last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, a Russian fighter by the name of Artem Vakhitov, is set to make his UFC promotional debut next month when he faces Islem Masraf on Dana White's Contender Series.
Yet as fans countdown to his long-awaited first feature fight in the promotion, Artem Vakhitov has teased that it won't take an elite-level striker, or even a wrestler, to beat Alex Pereira in mixed martial arts – it'll be only a 'basic' striking specialist that gets the job done.
The last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing explains how to beat Poatan in MMA
Back in January 2021, Alex 'Poatan' Pereira was running rampant through the Glory kickboxing promotion and at Glory 77, defeated Russian athlete Artem Vakhitov via a razor-close split decision.
Eight months later, the pair would rematch at Glory 78 with Vakhitov walking away with a unanimous decision victory, and Pereira leaving the sport entirely to pursue a career in the UFC – and the rest, as they say, is history.
Well, not quite; ahead of his debut appearance on Dana White's Contender Series next month, Vakhitov would sit down with YouTuber Adam Zubayraev to discuss his rivalry with Pereira and poignantly, what it'll take to defeat Poatan in MMA.
"I see it as a basic striker, only a basic striker can [beat Alex Pereira]," he argued, reiterating that it won't be a striking specialist, or even someone with a specialty in grappling who will beat the light heavyweight champion, but your run-of-the-mill 'basic' striker.
"Not a basic [all-around] MMA fighter, wrestler or grappler; because all of Alex's work is focused on striking, kickboxing and Muay Thai – [it'll be] someone who knows how to work properly in the stand-up and knows where to defend themselves."
Whilst Pereira has been dominating almost every single fight he's had in the UFC to date, only dropping the one loss to Israel Adesanya for the middleweight title, Vakhitov sees plenty of holes in the Brazilian's game.
"I see mistakes, that Pereira has almost no defense – you even saw the first fight with [Jan] Blachowicz… Everyone knows that there is no defense [from Pereira] in the first round, but the attack prevails and compensates [his weaknesses]."
Speaking exclusively to Bloody Elbow in July, Vakhitov doubled down on his desire to claim UFC title glory, and that if that includes running through Pereira, so be it.
"First of all, I want to become a champion, but if Pereira will be in my way? For sure we will meet each other and I feel it would be like double satisfaction to become champion and stop Pereira as well… It's funny, history has a way of repeating itself."
If Vakhitov is to exploit those 'mistakes' that he sees from Pereira, he'll need to work his way up the light heavyweight rankings – luckily, he starts that campaign next month.
When is Artem Vakhitov fighting on Dana White's Contender Series?
Dana White's Contender Series continues to provide a remedy for those mid-week MMA blues and in October, Artem Vakhitov will get the chance to send Alex Pereira a statement that he's coming, once again, for Poatan's title.
Vakhitov is set to face French prospect Islem Masraf on Week 9 of Dana White's Contender Series season 8 – with that episode currently scheduled for Tuesday, October 8.
The Russian transitioned to MMA last year and has gone 2-1 as a professional with two first-round knockout wins under his belt, and a loss that was the result of an unfortunate injury in the opening stanza.
Meanwhile, Masraf is 3-0 as a professional with a second-round submission in his debut, followed by back-to-back first-round knockouts already in 2024.
Artem Vakhitov vs Islem Masraf will be the final fight of S8 EP9 of DWCS, set for October 8.
