Pereira Unbothered By Gane's Training Tactics

Alex Pereira has heard about Ciryl Gane's training camp additions, but he is not impressed.

Pereira was asked about Gane's decision to bring in Artem Vakhitov as a sparring partner ahead of their June 14 heavyweight title fight. Vakhitov holds a specific piece of history that makes the pairing notable — he is the last man to have beaten Pereira in kickboxing. Gane's team clearly believe that experience carries value. Pereira disagreed, calmly and without much ceremony.

"Ciryl Gane's training with Vakhitov? It doesn't make a difference. Kickboxing and MMA are different sports and I'm not the same fighter I was when I fought Vakhitov. I've evolved a lot. Maybe he thinks the guy can give him some useful information, but he's the one who's going to be in there with me. If Artem Vakhitov is an honest guy, the most important thing he'll say is, 'Be careful with this guy. He's f—— tough,” Pereira

Vakhitov, for his part, has been vocal about what he observed in camp. After sparring sessions with Gane in April, the Russian said his initial reservations about the French heavyweight had been replaced by genuine confidence. He predicted Gane would finish the fight early, pointing to Pereira's aggression as a vulnerability that could be exploited: "His weakness is his openness," Vakhitov

The history between Pereira and Vakhitov adds much to this. They met twice in GLORY in 2021. Pereira won the first fight via split decision to claim the light heavyweight title. Vakhitov came back in the rematch and took the belt back by majority decision.

Gane is a legitimate heavyweight, technically gifted and physically imposing, and this is a fight that carries genuine stakes for the division.

But if Gane's camp thought revealing the Vakhitov connection would get inside Pereira's head before June 14, the champion's response suggested it landed somewhere considerably short of that.