Ciryl Gane is bringing in a man who already found success against Alex Pereira’s kickboxing.
Ahead of their June 14 interim heavyweight title fight at UFC White House in Washington, D.C., Gane has added Artem Vakhitov to camp. Vakhitov is a former two-time Glory light heavyweight champion who split two fights with Pereira and beat him in their 2021 rematch at Glory 78 after dropping the first meeting at Glory 77. Pereira’s recent weight update already showed how serious this move to heavyweight looks.
That makes the pairing easy to understand. Gane is a former interim UFC heavyweight champion whose game has long leaned on movement, range, and clean kickboxing. Pereira is one of the most dangerous strikers in the sport, so bringing in a former Glory rival with direct experience against him is a practical move, not a gimmick.
Vakhitov gives Gane a rare look at Pereira’s striking
Vakhitov matters here because he is one of the few high-level kickboxers to beat Pereira under Glory rules. Their rivalry finished 1-1, with Pereira winning the first fight and Vakhitov taking the rematch to avenge the loss and win the Glory light heavyweight title. That gives Gane a training partner who has seen Pereira’s timing, reactions, and preferred range up close. That Vakhitov-Pereira rivalry already produced useful discussion about how to approach Poatan’s style.
Vakhitov also looked like he might follow Pereira into the UFC after beating Islem Masraf on Dana White’s Contender Series, but contract talks did not get finished and he returned to kickboxing. Now he is helping one of Pereira’s biggest upcoming opponents prepare for a title fight instead.
None of this guarantees anything once the cage door closes. Pereira can still change a fight with one clean shot, and Gane still has to turn this into an MMA matchup instead of a striking battle in small gloves. But if the goal is to build camp around someone who has already dealt with Pereira’s kickboxing, Vakhitov is a logical name to bring in. And the UFC White House card is only adding more heat to a fight that already had plenty of it.
