Alex Poatan's former rival refuses UFC contract and leaves for another event, understand

Artem Vakhitov in victory over Alex Poatán (Photo: Instagram)

Se Israel adesanya saw Alex Poatán, his rival in the times of kick boxing, leave the sport and 'pursue' him to the UFC, the same will not happen with the Brazilian. Russian Artem Vakhitov, the last to defeat the São Paulo native before transitioning to MMA, gave up on the idea of ​​venturing into Mixed Martial Arts and refused the Ultimate contract. The reason for the decision was simple. The fighter chose to return to his 'home' place: Glory Kickboxing.

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A expectation The prospect of Vakhitov joining the world's largest MMA organization was huge. The Russian took part in the latest edition of the 2024 Dana White Contender Series in October. On that occasion, he knocked out Islem Masraf at the end of the first round and reached the mark of four wins and only one loss as a professional. With the triumph, he earned a contract with the company.

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Artem Vakhitov earns the first round TKO on #DWCS! pic.twitter.com/3KIX5i6jRJ

- UFC (@ufc) October 9, 2024

However, the negotiations ended up not going ahead. According to the Dutch newspaper The Telegraph, Vakhitov will return to Glory to fight Rico Verhoeven for the organization's heavyweight title in June.

Another factor behind this change may be the end of Glory's ban on Russian athletes. In June 2022, the organization terminated contracts with all Russian athletes after Russia invaded Ukraine. However, the decision was suspended in February.

Artem Vakhitov was the Glory Kickboxing champion. Photo: UFC.

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Vakhitov and Poatan faced each other twice

Artem Varikhov and Alex Poatán in a duel at GLORY (Photo: Facebook)

the paths of Alex Poatán and Artem Vakhitov crossed paths on two occasions, when the Brazilian moved up to the light heavyweight division to become the first double champion in Glory history. In the first duel, the São Paulo native emerged victorious by split decision in a very even duel. In the rematch, it was the Russian's turn to return the favor and triumph by majority decision.

With Vakhitov's supposed transition to MMA, a trilogy in the new modality was imagined. But apparently, the only Russian who will continue to receive Poatan's attention at this time is Magomed Ankalayev.