Alex Pereira's kickboxing rival set to make UFC debut

Ironically, Pereira generated considerable notoriety early in his MMA career because of his two kickboxing wins against Adesanya. Pereira enjoyed quite the Cinderella story, defeating everyone he faced in the UFC on his way to dethroning Adesanya. 

Pereira scored his third consecutive victory against Adesanya at UFC 281, finishing "The Last Stylebender" in the final round of a closely contested match. 

Poatan didn't get to hold onto the middleweight belt for long as Adesanya avenged the loss a few months later at UFC 287, scoring an impressive second-round finish. After the loss, Pereira moved up to the light heavyweight division, making his debut in his new weight class against Jan Blachowicz. 

Pereira secured the UFC's light heavyweight title by knocking out Jiri Prochazka at UFC 295, and he's defended the belt against Jamahal Hill and Prochazka in awe-inspiring fashion. Poatan is now set to defend his belt against Khalil Rountree Jr. at UFC 307. 

Adesanya's fans were hoping he would defeat Dricus Du Plessis at UFC 305 to set up an MMA rubber match with Pereira, but those plans are now on hold since he ended up getting tapped out during the fifth round. 

Now, it's Pereira's turn to have his kickboxing rival capitalize off his name as Vakhitov tries to build a following for himself in the UFC. He currently sports a 2-1 pro MMA record, with both wins coming via first-round TKOs, after losing his MMA debut. The Russian-born fighter fights as a light heavyweight to make things more interesting.

Pereira also lost his mixed martial arts debut and returned to win his next two bouts via knockouts.

While Pereira's striking prowess has wowed many in the mixed martial arts community, Vakhitov says he sees many holes in his game, particularly his defense. He only needs to win a few consecutive fights in the UFC to get his chance to test his skills against Pereira in MMA. After all, Pereira only needed three fights in the Ultimate Fighting Championship to earn a title shot against Adesanya. A showdown between Pereira and Vakhitov appears to be inevitable.