Light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, fresh off his win at UFC 307 this past weekend, was present at the UFC Apex on Tuesday watching one of his former kickboxing rivals compete on the penultimate episode of Season 8 of Dana White’s Contender Series.
Russia’s Artem Vakhitov is the last man to defeat Pereira in kickboxing and the 33-year-old from Russia picked up his third consecutive first-round victory in mixed marital arts after debuting in the sport last year.
Vakhitov defeated Islem Masraf of France late in the opening round of their 205-pound contest on Week 9 of DWCS.
Masraf had never previously lost in MMA and was coming off a 10-second knockout win earlier this year. He put the former Glory champion’s grappling defence to the test early but he was unable to take Vakhitov to the ground and keep him there.
Vakhitov had back-to-back fights against Pereira in 2021, losing a split decision at Glory 77 before winning a majority decision in the rematch at Glory 78 nine months later.
Pereira watched the fight while sitting cageside. It was not an emphatic, entirely one-sided win so White said he was torn but asked Pereira for his opinion afterwards.
The UFC superstar told the UFC president he believes Vakhitov absolutely belongs and deserves a shot in the UFC.
Vakhitov ended up being one of four fighters to go home with a UFC contract on Tuesday.
Welterweight Islam Dulatov delivered what many would consider to be an ideal Contender Series performance, storming out the gates aggressively with strikes and eventually picking up a highlight-reel knockout of Vanilto Antunes with a huge standing right elbow
Dulatov, 26, has won 11 in a row since losing his pro debut five years ago.
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Heavyweight Mario Pinto looked calm, cool and collected as he handed Lucas Camacho his first pro loss during his quick knockout win over by knockout at 1:43 of Round 1.
Pinto landed a clean left hook to improve to 9-0.
Kody Steele is a standout grappler yet the 7-0 lightweight put his striking to work by picking up a second-round finish of Chasen Blair, landing a beautiful body shot that put away his opponent.
Steele was scheduled to fight during Week 5 but that matchup was called off minutes before the athletes made their walk to the cage because Steele’s opponent withdrew backstage due to nerves.
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Australian flyweights Sean Gauci and Anthony Drilich kicked off the action with a UFC-calibre scrap at the end of which Gauci got his hand raised.
Drilich is teammates with recent UFC flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg. Gauci, who said he injured his right hand during the fight, holds a 2017 win over Erceg.
Drilich, a 30-year-old southpaw, used a boxing-heavy attack and landed more volume throughout the 15-minute bout but it was Gauci, a 28-year-old orthodox fighter, who landed the heavier shots and mixed in takedowns to get the win.
White said he thinks both men will eventually get to the UFC but “not tonight” he added.
DWCS Season 8, Week 9 Official Results:
— Artem Vakhitov def. Islem Masraf by technical knockout at 4:23 of Round 1
— Kody Steele def. Chasen Blair by knockout 4:07 of Round 2
— Mario Pinto def. Lucas Camacho by knockout at 1:43 of Round 1
— Islam Dulatov def. Vanilto Antunes by knockout at 2:44 of Round 1
— Sean Gauci def. Anthony Drilich by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
UFC contract recipients: Islam Dulatov, Mario Pinto, Kody Steele, Artem Vakhitov
