UFC Star Ciryl Gane Trains With Alex Pereira Rival Ahead of UFC White House Fight

"Poatan" closed out his kickboxing career against this fighter.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Ciryl Gane is working with a fighter that’s very familiar with Alex Pereira ahead of their interim UFC heavyweight title bout at The White House.

A former interim titleholder himself, Gane came up short in his bid to unify the heavyweight belts against Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 and was also submitted by Jon Jones in a fight for the division’s vacant title the following year at UFC 285.

“Bon Gamin” saw his third crack at undisputed UFC gold at UFC 321 end in disappointment when Tom Aspinall was left unable to continue due to eye pokes at the end of the first round, but now Gane is slated for another title opportunity against Pereira in the co-main event for the card that’s being billed as “UFC Freedom 250”.

Ciryl Gane Spars Ex-Alex Pereira Opponent For UFC White House Fight

We’re now just under two months out from the White House event, and Andrey Busygin recently shared some sparring footage featuring Gane and Pereira’s former kickboxing rival Artem Vakhitov.

A decorated kickboxer, Vakhitov had a lengthy reign as the GLORY light heavyweight champion before Pereira unseated him via split decision in their first meeting at GLORY 77.

Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira met twice in the GLORY kickboxing ring. | (GLORY Kickboxing)

The 35-year-old reclaimed his title in their immediate rematch later that year, winning a majority decision in what turned out to be Pereira’s final kickboxing fight before he fully committed to MMA.

Artem Vakhitov Passed Up On UFC Contract In 2024

Vakhitov also made the jump to MMA in 2023, but he unfortunately lost his debut via injury TKO when he hurt his elbow just 57 seconds into a fight with Ashraf Bashandy at Russia’s Open Fighting Championship 31.

The former GLORY titleholder rebounded in 2024 with a pair of first-round finishes that came in less than two minutes of combined fight time. That was enough to earn him an invitation to Dana White’s Contender Series, where he was matched with the undefeated Islem Masraf.

Artem Vakhitov defeated Islem Masraf on Dana White's Contender Series in 2024. | (Ken Hathaway/MMA Junkie)

The Russian was offered a UFC contract after stopping Islem Masraf with strikes in the opening round, but he was reportedly dissatisfied with the promotion’s offer and returned to kickboxing to challenge Rico Verhoeven in a heavyweight title bout at GLORY 100 last June.

Ciryl Gane (red gloves) leaves the arena after defeating Serghei Spivac (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Accor Arena. | Per Haljestam-Imagn Images

Bringing in a fighter with a win over Pereira and a combined 10 rounds of kickboxing experience against him should certainly bolster Gane’s preparations for the matchup, and “Bon Gamin” is likely well-aware that the road back to another heavyweight title shot would be a long one if he were to come up short against the Brazilian on June 14.