{"id":38728,"date":"2026-06-09T15:37:24","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Alex-Pereira-on-former-kickboxing-rival-helping-Ciryl-Gane-It-doesnt-make-a-difference-201475"},"modified":"2026-06-09T15:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T15:37:24","slug":"alex-pereira-on-former-kickboxing-rival-helping-ciryl-gane-it-doesnt-make-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/alex-pereira-on-former-kickboxing-rival-helping-ciryl-gane-it-doesnt-make-a-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Alex Pereira on former kickboxing rival helping Ciryl Gane: \u2018It doesn\u2019t make a difference\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nPereira and Vakhitov went 1-1 in a pair of 2021 title fights
\n(Photo: Glory Kickboxing)<\/b><\/p>\n

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Ciryl
\nGane<\/a> is training with the last man to defeat Alex
\nPereira<\/a> in kickboxing, but Pereira claims to be unfazed.<\/p>\n

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Gane (13-2), who faces Pereira (13-3) for the interim heavyweight
\ntitle in the co-main event of
\nUFC Freedom 250<\/a> on Sunday in Washington, D.C., has enlisted
\nArtem
\nVakhitov<\/a> in his camp to help prepare for the fight against
\nPereira. Vakhitov is a former two-time Glory Kickboxing light
\nheavyweight champion with a 3-1 MMA record including a victorious
\nappearance on
\nDana White’s Contender Series<\/a> in 2024.<\/p>\n

Significantly, the 35-year-old Russian defeated Pereira by majority
\ndecision at Glory 78 in September of 2021, winning back the Glory
\nlight heavyweight belt and marking Pereira\u2019s last loss in
\nkickboxing before making his final transition to MMA. The narrow
\ndecision brought the pair even after their similarly competitive
\nfirst bout eight months earlier, which had gone Pereira\u2019s way.<\/p>\n

Despite their shared history, Pereira dismissed the idea that
\nVakhitov\u2019s presence in the Gane camp will be of much use to his
\nopponent. notes that kickboxing and MMA are different sports to
\nbegin with. In the \u201cCountdown\u201d video released by the UFC at the
\nbeginning of UFC Freedom 250 fight week, \u201cPoatan\u201d pointed out the
\ntime elapsed and the fundamental differences between the sports in
\nquestion, but did offer up one thing that Vakhitov could tell
\nGane:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt doesn’t make a difference,\u201d Pereira said. \u201cKickboxing and MMA
\nare different sports. And I’m not the same fighter I was when I
\nfought Vakhitov. I’ve evolved a lot. Maybe [Gane] thinks [Vakhitov]\ncan give him some useful information, but he’s the one who’s going
\nto be in there with me. If Artem Vakhitov is an honest guy, the
\nmost important thing he’ll say is, \u2018be careful with this guy, he’s
\nf*cking tough.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n