Pereira and Vakhitov went 1-1 in a pair of 2021 title fights
(Photo: Glory Kickboxing)
Ciryl
Gane is training with the last man to defeat Alex
Pereira in kickboxing, but Pereira claims to be unfazed.
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Gane (13-2), who faces Pereira (13-3) for the interim heavyweight
title in the co-main event of
UFC Freedom 250 on Sunday in Washington, D.C., has enlisted
Artem
Vakhitov in his camp to help prepare for the fight against
Pereira. Vakhitov is a former two-time Glory Kickboxing light
heavyweight champion with a 3-1 MMA record including a victorious
appearance on
Dana White’s Contender Series in 2024.
Significantly, the 35-year-old Russian defeated Pereira by majority
decision at Glory 78 in September of 2021, winning back the Glory
light heavyweight belt and marking Pereira’s last loss in
kickboxing before making his final transition to MMA. The narrow
decision brought the pair even after their similarly competitive
first bout eight months earlier, which had gone Pereira’s way.
Despite their shared history, Pereira dismissed the idea that
Vakhitov’s presence in the Gane camp will be of much use to his
opponent. notes that kickboxing and MMA are different sports to
begin with. In the “Countdown” video released by the UFC at the
beginning of UFC Freedom 250 fight week, “Poatan” pointed out the
time elapsed and the fundamental differences between the sports in
question, but did offer up one thing that Vakhitov could tell
Gane:
“It doesn’t make a difference,” Pereira said. “Kickboxing and MMA
are different sports. And I’m not the same fighter I was when I
fought Vakhitov. I’ve evolved a lot. Maybe [Gane] thinks [Vakhitov]
can give him some useful information, but he’s the one who’s going
to be in there with me. If Artem Vakhitov is an honest guy, the
most important thing he’ll say is, ‘be careful with this guy, he’s
f*cking tough.’”
UFC Freedom 250 takes place Sunday, June 14, on the south lawn of
the White House in Washington, D.C., and features a seven-fight
card. The co-main event pits Pereira against Gane in a matchup for
the interim heavyweight title and is scheduled to be followed by a
lightweight title unification bout between champ Ilia
Topuria and interim titleholder Justin
Gaethje.