Artem Vakhitov Credit score: GLORY Kickboxing
Artem Vakhitov arrived on Dana White’s Contender Collection final yr billed because the final man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing.
The premise was easy: right here’s a fighter who might, like Pereira earlier than him, flourish in MMA, and stand up to some extent the place a rematch with “Poatan” may very well be potential.
Issues had been headed in the best course when the Russian gained his DWCS look. A future showdown with Pereira appeared to be within the playing cards.
Vakhitov’s story ought to have paralleled Pereira’s personal. The Brazilian arrived within the UFC in pursuit of previous kickboxing rival Israel Adesanya, which led to a pair of middleweight title fights contained in the octagon. In MMA, “Poatan” and “The Last Stylebender” went 1-1. Each had been huge fights for the group. The UFC promotional machine might have labored related wonders with Vakhitov.
As an alternative, these accountable for the corporate insisted they might solely pay Vakhitov the usual Contender Collection contract pay, regardless of his standing as champion in one other sport.
“Obviously I was delighted to win my fight on DWCS and get offered a contract,” Vakhitov mentioned in a latest interview MMA Combating. “It was cool that Alex was there, additionally. It felt just like the trilogy battle was very shut, only a win or two away. Sadly, when it got here time to finalize the UFC contract, it turned clear that the UFC has strict insurance policies for fighters coming via DWCS.
“Under their protocols, they were only able to offer me the standard contract given to all DWCS signings. My team tried to negotiate, but the UFC’s rules left no room for adjustments. I want to be clear that I don’t take issue with their approach—I respect their structure. But I am a prizefighter, and I have a family to support. I have a limited window to make the most of my career.”
And so Artem Vakhitov returns to kickboxing, and barring the UFC signing him outright, will probably go down as one other one in every of MMA’s “what ifs?”
That looks as if a little bit of a fumble by the UFC. Alex Pereira is at the moment set to rematch Magomed Ankalaev for the promotion’s mild heavyweight title. Past that, nevertheless, the 205lb weight class isn’t precisely bursting with contenders. Carlos Ulberg is on a powerful eight-fight win streak, however didn’t precisely seem like a world-beater in a detailed choice win over ex-champ Jan Blachowicz at UFC London final weekend.
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Author : admin
Publish date : 2025-03-28 13:11:00
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