Former GLORY champion Artem Vakhitov is no longer planning to fight for the UFC.
The Russian born striker earned a contract with the promotion after winning on Dana White’s Contender Series this past October. That set up a perfect storyline with former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who Vakhitov defeated in his final kickboxing bout before the Brazilian ultimately decided to transition to MMA.
Overall, the fighters split two back-to-back bouts in GLORY but any unfinished business between them won’t get settled after Vakhitov and his management team passed on the offer to sign with the UFC. He now instead turns his attention to a showdown against GLORY heavyweight kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven in June.
“Obviously I was delighted to win my fight on DWCS and get offered a contract,” Vakhitov told MMA Fighting. “It was cool that Alex was there, also. It felt like the trilogy fight was very close, just a win or two away. Unfortunately, when it came time to finalize the UFC contract, it became clear that the UFC has strict policies for fighters coming through 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.”
At 33, Vakhitov is one of the most accomplished kickboxers to make the move to MMA and his history with Pereira was perfect fodder for conversation after he was offered a UFC contract.
Overall, Vakhitov holds a 3-1 record in MMA competition with all three wins coming by knockout.
Following his win on The Contender Series, Vakhitov’s management team discussed terms with the UFC on his contract but the two sides were just not able to come to an agreement.
“Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira had one of the closest rivalries in GLORY, and when the UFC opportunity arose, they both had identical 3-1 records in MMA,” Vakhitov’s manager Andrey Busygin told MMA Fighting. “Given that, we felt it was reasonable to request that Artem receive the same kind of deal Alex got when he joined the UFC. Seems only fair, we thought.
“However, the UFC’s policy is that all Dana White Contender Series fighters receive the same contract with fixed terms. Personally, I found this unfair to Artem, considering his combat sports accomplishments and the fact that he was on par with Alex at the time he entered the UFC. But rules are rules, and we understood their stance. So, we ultimately had to pass on the offer. Of course, it’s disappointing that we won’t get to see Artem and Alex complete their trilogy in the Octagon right now. But there’s no animosity—our negotiations with Hunter [Campbell] and his team were very professional and respectful. The doors are not closed.”
With Vakhitov passing on a UFC contract, he’s now returning to kickboxing with a huge fight booked against Verhoeven at the GLORY 100 card set for June 14 in the Netherlands.
“This is a fight I’ve wanted for a long time,” Vakhitov said about the matchup against Verhoeven. “I’ve been calling for it since 2017. For years, nobody wanted to fight Rico—he’s called ‘The King’ for a reason, he’s dominated this division for so long.
“But I’ve always believed I’m the best pound-for-pound kickboxer in GLORY, and that belief hasn’t changed. And now at last the king is finally ready to face the Tsar.”
Busygin says that GLORY really stepped up with a lucrative offer for Vakhitov to return to kickboxing for the fight against Verhoeven and it just made the most sense to go there instead for now.
“Our attention now turns to a huge fight in June where Artem will face the GLORY Kickboxing World Heavyweight Championship holder Rico Verhoeven,” Busygin said. “GLORY made a really big money offer for this fight and Artem is delighted because he’s wanted this fight since 2017 and now it’s finally happening. So the trilogy will have to wait a while it seems.”
Vakhitov isn’t shutting the door on potentially returning to make his UFC debut at some point in the future and he holds no ill will towards the promotion for the way things played out.
“Joining the UFC would have been an incredible opportunity, but the financial terms didn’t make sense for me on the face of other offers which were also coming in,” Vakhitov said. “So, we had to politely decline.
“That said, our discussions were respectful, and who knows what the future may bring?”
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