UFC gentle heavyweight champion Alex Pereira didn’t take lengthy to handle his former Glory Kickboxing opponent Artem Vakhitov’s current remarks.
Pereira made essentially the most of one other short-notice alternative by ending Jiří Procházka within the UFC 303 predominant occasion final month. After Conor McGregor’s withdrawal from the cardboard, Pereira and Procházka stepped up on weeks’ discover to save lots of one of many largest occasions of the 12 months.
Amidst Pereira’s rise to superstardom, many have been in awe of his success in MMA. In only a handful of fights, Pereira has cemented himself as an all-time nice, and one of many UFC’s pound-for-pound finest.
Earlier than making the transfer to MMA, Pereira made a reputation for himself in kickboxing. Certainly one of his largest rivals throughout that timeframe was Vakhitov, who handed Pereira a majority determination loss in 2021 in his Glory Kickboxing finale.
Vakhitov has Pereira in his sights and thinks he’s the one to knock Pereira off his throne.
In a current interview with MMA Combating, Vakhitov gave his evaluation of Pereira’s unprecedented success in MMA.
“His largest weak point is that he’s all assault, he has no protection,” Vakhitov stated of Pereira. “Due to his lack of protection, he’s open to taking a variety of punches to the pinnacle if he’s dealing with a talented striker. You noticed that in his second combat with Adesanya. He acquired caught as a result of he leaves a variety of openings for individuals who know what they’re doing…
“These different guys haven’t completed effectively in opposition to Alex as a result of their hanging isn’t at a excessive sufficient stage. They aren’t assured in opposition to him and so they assume he’s unbeatable. So of their coronary heart they’re already defeated earlier than the combat begins. However I’ve overwhelmed him earlier than in pure hanging competitors, and I’m certain I’ll do it once more if we will get our trilogy match within the UFC.”