News Artem Vakhitov will make his MMA-debut today, on OPEN FC 31

[BoxerMaurits]

Artem Vakhitov, former GLORY light-heavyweight champion and the last man to beat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, is set to make his MMA-debut today.

The P4P-great kickboxer from Russia will take on Ashraf Bashandy, who makes his pro-debut aswell. Bashandy has an amateur MMA record of 4-1, with three of his wins coming by way of submission.

Vakhitov is fighting in the main-event of OPEN FC 31, and the event kicks off in an hour (8am ET/2pm CET starttime, Vakhitov will fight a few hours later as he’s headlining the card).
The whole card is free to watch on OPEN Fighting Championship’s Youtube-channel:
https://youtube.com/@OPENFCGORILLAFIGHTING



Full fightcard:



OPEN FC president Alexander Guryanov on Artem Vakhitov’s MMA-debut:
"Umar and Usman Nurmagomedov are good examples, when talent and a good platform lead to the highest success on the world stage. But Vakhitov is on another level altogether. Artem has a good team interested in his development, and we have a good platform for the realization of his goals."


I also did a post about this fight with my own Dutch combat sports Instagram-page

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Some interesting footage:

I’ve noticed Artem Vakhitov has been training his grappling for quite some time now, and his standup with small gloves aswell. He appears to be in great shape too, I’ve never seen him this ripped before.
As far as I know he doesn’t have a long-standing background in training his groundgame or something, but he’s a Russian, so who knows lol.
Almost all these dudes grow up doing some kind of sambo







Here are the highlights of Vakhitov’s most recent fight where he put on an absolute kickboxing masterclass:



I wonder how far Vakhitov will make it in MMA…
Izzy and Alex had two kickboxing fights, and then met two more times in MMA.
Vakhitov and Pereira had two kickboxing fights aswell, and now the P4P-great from Russia is getting into MMA.
I assume he has some work to do before he (potentially) makes it to the UFC, but the storyline is definitely there!

 

[rear naked ankle pick]

I will gather mods and will suggest them hiring you (for free)

 

[xhaydenx]

Fuck yeh, I thought he had decided not to even try MMA.

Hopefully, I can find a way to watch this card somewhere.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Fuck yeh, I thought he had decided not to even try MMA.

Hopefully, I can find a way to watch this card somewhere.

It’s free to watch on OPEN FC’s Youtube-channel, read the OP bro

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

i feel like Vakhitov's striking style isn't really suited for MMA but interesting to see how it goes, thanks for the heads up

 

[davidlemonparty]

i feel like Vakhitov's striking style isn't really suited for MMA but interesting to see how it goes, thanks for the heads up

One mightve thought that about pereira as well, and he adapted well enough

 

[ChimRichalds]

Definitely will be catching the replay. If Artem has some semblance of grappling/TDD he's going to be a problem.

On a side note, maybe I'm crazy, but Bashandy's face doesn't look real at all on the poster lol. Looks like a CG face pasted on a body.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Definitely will be catching the replay. If Artem has some semblance of grappling/TDD he's going to be a problem.

On a side note, maybe I'm crazy, but Bashandy's face doesn't look real at all on the poster lol. Looks like a CG face pasted on a body.

Lol yeah, a little bit<45>
Here are the official post weigh-in pics, looks a bit surreal here too

 

[xhaydenx]

It’s free to watch on OPEN FC’s Youtube-channel, read the OP bro

Ah, cheers. Didn't read that bit haha. Gonna catch the replay in the morning.

 

[don't ask]

Awesome, going to check out the replay later! They've already got a few matches up on their channel.

 

[Ace70 V2]

What is Bashandy's background? I know it is both men's debuts, but we all know Artem's pedigree very well.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

What is Bashandy's background? I know it is both men's debuts, but we all know Artem's pedigree very well.

Bashandy has an amateur MMA record of 4-1, with three of his wins coming by way of submission, so I guess he got some experience on the ground

 

[Feniamin]

Egyptian won via elbow injury.

 

[Dillydilly]

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Ah, cheers. Didn't read that bit haha. Gonna catch the replay in the morning.

Awesome, going to check out the replay later! They've already got a few matches up on their channel.

I see the fights get uploaded to their Youtube-page shortly after they’re finished.
Cheersss

 

[BoxerMaurits]

Egyptian won via elbow injury.

For real? Damnn

 

[Feniamin]

For real? Damnn

They were in clinch, Vakhitov fall on Bashandy and probably because his arm was straight injured it and tapped or told to referee that he can't continue.

 

[BoxerMaurits]

They were in clinch, Vakhitov fall on Bashandy and probably because his arm was straight injured it and tapped or told to referee that he can't continue.

Unfortunate debut for the Russian, I’m looking forward to the replay.
What did the fight look like prior to the injury?

 

[Hellowhosthat]

Unfortunate debut for the Russian, I’m looking forward to the replay.
What did the fight look like prior to the injury?

He seemed to have been working on wrestling a bit, was trying to get his leg back when the guy took him down the first time and then got pulled on top when he got injured the second time.

I really don't know why he just didn't hit him with his other arm though, he was in full mount when they stopped. He was injured anyway.