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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.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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