The man who beat Pereira is now in Gane's corner
Artem Vakhitov — the kickboxer who actually defeated Alex Pereira — is now working Ciryl Gane's corner ahead of their UFC title fight on June 14 in Washington. It's one of the shrewdest camp additions you'll see: a man who's been across the ring from your opponent, figured him out, and now has a direct line to your ear. That's not coincidence. That's a fight strategy.
Vakhitov beat Pereira for the GLORY light heavyweight title at GLORY 78 in Rotterdam — and it wasn't a fluke, either. It came after an earlier loss to the Brazilian, meaning Vakhitov had to go back, adjust, and find a way to win. He knows what works against Pereira and just as importantly what doesn't. That's the kind of knowledge you can't buy from a coaching manual.
Gane goes hunting for specific answers
Top-level fighters bring in specialists all the time when they're facing a unique stylistic challenge. Ciryl Gane is doing exactly that. He's not just looking for a good kickboxer — he's looking for someone who's cracked this specific puzzle before. Vakhitov fits that profile better than almost anyone else on the planet.
It doesn't always pay off. Similar specialist-driven camp strategies have backfired on other UFC fighters in the past. But the logic is sound, and the credentials here are hard to argue with.
Vakhitov's career keeps pulling him back into the conversation
Artem Vakhitov never made it to the UFC despite the talent and the name recognition. Contract problems redirected him back to kickboxing, where he's remained a genuine threat and a name still floated as a potential GLORY title contender. He hasn't faded into the background — which makes his presence in this camp feel like more than a token hire.
He brings credibility alongside the technical knowledge. That combination matters when a fighter is trying to absorb game-plan details under pressure in the weeks before a major title fight.
What it means when the bell goes
Alex Pereira has built a reputation on making opponents look like they didn't prepare for him. Gane is betting that having the one man who reversed a loss against Pereira — and won a world title doing it — gives him an edge that film study alone can't provide. Whether that translates once the cage door closes is the only question left.
Gane's decision to bring Vakhitov in says something broader about how seriously he's approaching this fight. He's leaving no knowledge on the table — and in a division where Pereira has looked near-untouchable, that kind of preparation might be exactly what separates a good camp from a winning one.
