Alex Pereira is Overrated For One Reason, The UFC Star’s Old Rival Says

Alex Pereira overcame a knockdown and had surrendered the opening rounds before turning the tide on UFC 307 opponent Khalil Rountree on Saturday at Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. With Rountree gassing, and Pereira surging, it was only a matter of time before the fight finished violently. With Pereira’s arm raised, ‘Poatan’ had done it again.

Not everyone, though, was left impressed. A former kickboxing rival of Pereira’s called Artem Vakhitov, who fights in Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday with the hope of becoming a UFC fighter himself, is one of those people. Vakhitov even suggested there’s one area in Pereira’s game in particular that is overrated.

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Alex Pereira’s Striking Isn’t All That

That’s according to an old kickboxing rival of his Artem Vakhitov

The 37-year-old Pereira only made his UFC debut in 2021 but in almost three years he’s beaten Israel Adesanya, won the UFC middleweight championship, beaten Jiri Prochazka twice, won the UFC light heavyweight championship, and defended that title three times.

Pereira now has as many defenses of a UFC title as Khabib Nurmagomedov, yet the Brazilian has done that in a six-month spell as a two-weight champ. Yes, the fight veteran deserves his accolades — especially after entering MMA late, after a successful kickboxing career in Glory in which he won the organization’s middleweight and light heavyweight titles.

While he was at Glory, Pereira fought two fights with Vakhitov — winning by split decision in 2021 before a majority decision loss in the rematch.

Vakhitov has been following his career since, and doesn’t think he’s as good as everyone’s been saying.

“I don’t think that he’s really good and the best striker because to have just one good punch, it doesn’t mean you’re a really good striker,” Vakhitov told Submission Radio recently.

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Dana White’s Contender Series Returns Tuesday

All eyes will be on Vakhitov after his latest statements

It is the penultimate episode of the eighth season of Dana White’s Contender Series on Tuesday at the Apex in Las Vegas. The show, so far, has been a success as White has handed out 33 contracts to aspiring MMA stars. With only two episodes left this year to impress White, the race is on to earn a spot on the full UFC roster.

Vakhitov will be one of those fighters. And the Russian will surely be looking to put on a show, so that his words on Pereira don’t come back to bite him.

Contract winners from Season Eight so far:

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