Artem Vakhitov
Artem Vakhitov
Long jab, disciplined checking, and a refusal to trade on the opponent’s terms. The clearest technical answer to Pereira in the division.
Artem Vakhitov held the GLORY light heavyweight title across two reigns and is best known for the series against Alex Pereira — the one fighter in the division who had genuinely solved the puzzle Pereira presented to everyone else.
His method is technical and unhurried: a long jab to control range, disciplined checking that neutralises the low-kick game, and an unwillingness to be drawn into the exchanges his opponents want. Against a fighter whose entire threat is one heavy left hand and the kick that pairs with it, refusing to stand in front of him is the correct answer, and Vakhitov executed it better than anyone.
It is a useful counterweight to the assumption that power settles divisions. Pereira went on to hold two GLORY titles and then a UFC title; Vakhitov was the fighter he could not consistently beat.