MMA Knockout

Kickboxer Who Beat Alex Pereira Joins the UFC After Impressing Dana White

Thanks to light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, Artem Vakhitov's quick KO earned him a UFC contract just four fights into his MMA career.

Zain Bando

GLORY Kickboxing

Kickboxer-turned-MMA fighter Artem Vakhitov lived up to all the proverbial hype Tuesday night in Las Vegas. In the main event of DWCS Week 9, Vakhitov made short work of Islem Masraf with a first-round KO.

Despite only having four MMA fights to his name, Vakhitov was unfazed by Masraf, needing just 4:23 of the opening round to get the job done. With UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira in the audience, he gave UFC CEO Dana White his seal of approval to sign him to a contract to compete in the promotion's light heavyweight division.

"I'm ready," Vakhitov told UFC analyst Laura Sanko backstage.

Vakhitov confirmed his mutual respect for Pereira's MMA success over the last few years. However, he reassured Sanko and the world that winning a championship is the ultimate goal.

White revealed he and Pereira shook hands while the pair went to White's private room in the UFC APEX to discuss Vakhitov's performance. Through a bit of convincing, White eventually pulled the trigger on Vakhitov. He admitted his delay to his media scrum was due to him still conversing with Pereira about Vakhitov's skillset.

White marvelled at the way Pereira swayed him to sign Vakhitov. He said Pereira feels Vakhitov was able to handle the pressure of competing on DWCS, something Pereira admitted he was glad he didn't go through when he signed with the UFC in 2021.

Dana White's Contender Series Results & Highlights (Season 8, Week 9)

"He [Pereira] thinks this is a tremendous amount of pressure [on Vakhitov]," White said

Vakhitov was one of four fighters signed to the UFC during the episode. Other names included Kody Steele, Mario Pinto and Islam Dulatov. Through nine episodes, 38 contracts have been awarded, which breaks Season 4, 5, 6, and 7's marks, respectively.

All in all, Vakhitov's addition to the light heavyweight division brings a unique storyline with a potential fitting conclusion to a 1-1 tie.

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Zain Bando
ZAIN BANDO

Zain Bando is a writer for MMA Knockout, part of the Sports Illustrated/Minute Media umbrella. He has covered combat sports since 2019 for notable outlets BJPenn.com and FanSided MMA. He also co-hosts a podcast called "The MMA Outsiders," part of the Empty The Bench Podcast Network, which airs Tuesday nights at 7:00 p.m. ET/4:00 p.m. PT. A Chicago suburban native, Bando has been enthralled with MMA since 2006 and has been fortunate to attend some of the most high-profile events in the sport's history, both as a fan and media member, including UFC 264, Bellator 297 and Kayla Harrison's PFL MMA debut. He is excited to take the next step in his combat sports writing journey and looks forward to continuing his following of the fight game for years to come. Bando can be reached via email at zainbando99@gmail.com or by social media @zainbando99

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