Artem Vakhitov, last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, passes on UFC offer and now faces Rico Verhoeven in GLORY

Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC

Former GLORY champion Artem Vakhitov is no longer planning to fight for the UFC.

The Russian born striker earned a contract with the promotion after winning on Dana White’s Contender Series this past October. That set up a perfect storyline with former UFC light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira, who Vakhitov defeated in his final kickboxing bout before the Brazilian ultimately decided to transition to MMA.

Overall, the fighters split two back-to-back...