Artem Vakhitov rejected UFC offer, chose to fight Rico Verhoeven at GLORY 100

Artem Vakhitov rejected the UFC’s offer and instead chose to fight Rico Verhoeven for the world heavyweight title at GLORY 100.

Artem Vakhitov won a fight in Dana White’s Contender Series and received a contract offer from the UFC organization. The Russian was advertised as the fighter who defeated Alex Pereira in the last fight fought by the Brazilian in kickboxing just before switching to MMA.

Ultimately, however, Vakhitov will not end up in the best MMA league in the world. The UFC organization offers very low contracts to fighters who end up there through the Contender Series program, and it was no different for Artem, who commented extensively on the subject in an interview with MMAFighting.

– Of course, I was thrilled to win the Contender Series program. It was cool that Alex was there, watching the fight from under the cage. It seemed that one, maybe two wins in the UFC would provide me with the opportunity to fight a trilogy with Pereira. Unfortunately, the UFC has its own policy regarding contracts for Contender fighters. My managers tried to negotiate with them however it was not an option. I understand this and respect it, however, I depend on high paychecks because I have a family to support.

Artem Vakhitov has rejected the UFC’s offer and signed a contract to fight Rico Verhoeven in the fight of the evening of the GLORY 100 anniversary gala, which will take place on June 14. At stake in this clash will, of course, be the heavyweight category title. The 33-year-old Russian is pleased that he will come to face the excellent Dutchman.

– I’ve wanted this fight for a long time, I’ve been courting him since 2017. It was always hard to find him a rival no one wanted to fight Rico, there is a reason why he is called the King. He dominated this division for years. I for one have always believed that in the pound 4 pound rankings I am the best fighter in GLORY. It is time for the King to face CARE.

Vakhitov and his manager Busygin acknowledged that GLORY had offered very good money, and assured to bring back fighters from Russia to the schedules of its events in Western Europe.