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Roman Kopylov has called in the help of Artem Vakhitov in preparation for his upcoming fight against Kickboxer turned MMA-fighter César Almeida, which will take place this Saturday night as the Featured Prelim of UFC 302.
Vakhitov, a former long-reigning GLORY Light-heavyweight champion and P4P-great, is also the last man to defeat Alex Pereira in Kickboxing, before Poatan joined the UFC:
Swipe for more:
It goes without saying that Roman Kopylov can learn a thing or two from Artem Vakhitov when it comes down to striking.
Kopylov’s opponent, César Almeida, has also fought Alex Pereira multiple times in Kickboxing, just like Artem, so he’s a common opponent for both athletes.
Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira went 1-1 in GLORY, switching the LHW-belt in two razor close, extremely high-level championship fights.
Vakhitov was the long-reigning champion, when in January 2021 Pereira won the title by split decision to become the first and only fighter to have held GLORY-titles in two weight classes simultaneously.
Later that year, Artem Vakhitov won the title back by majority decision.
Alex edged the first and Artem the second, though it actually looks like the majority of people thought Vakhitov won the first fight and Pereira the second (so in the end they still would’ve been 1-1, lol).
Imo there’s arguments for both fights to go either way.
First fight (Alex Pereira won the title):
Second fight (Artem Vakhitov won the title back):
Here’s a highlights video of both fights combined:
Alex Pereira and César Almeida fought a total of 3 times in Kickboxing!
Here’s their third and final meeting, for the WGP Middleweight-championship (which Poatan won):
Roman Kopylov is a five-time world champion in hand-to-hand Combat Sambo, and has also won several European and Russian championships.
In 2018 he became the Fight Nights Global middleweight champion, a title he defended one time before signing with the UFC in 2019.
Moreover, Roman is a formidable Kickboxer in his own right. However, César Almeida has faced the sport’s elites such as GLORY Middleweight champion Donovan Wisse, Serkan Özçağlayan, and Alex Pereira, which should give the Brazilian the edge in the stand-up battle.
While Roman can leverage his MMA-experience to initiate grappling, what happens if that road is not working out?
As seen in Dylan Budka’s fight against Cesinha two months ago, fatigue can set in, which led to him getting finished in the 2nd round. Therefore, having a plan B and being prepared to engage with an elite Kickboxer is crucial.
And who would be more suited to prepare Kopylov for this challenge than Artem Vakhitov?
On the other side, César Almeida, a former GLORY Kickboxing contender and WGP-, WKN- and SUPERKOMBAT champion, has been preparing himself with high-level training partners aswell, at Xtreme Couture with the likes of Caio Borralho, Michel Pereira, Roman Dolidze, Chris Curtis and Brad Tavares:
Who will take the win tonight, Roman Kopylov or César Almeida?
And how do you guys see this fight play out?
Vakhitov, a former long-reigning GLORY Light-heavyweight champion and P4P-great, is also the last man to defeat Alex Pereira in Kickboxing, before Poatan joined the UFC:
Swipe for more:
It goes without saying that Roman Kopylov can learn a thing or two from Artem Vakhitov when it comes down to striking.
Kopylov’s opponent, César Almeida, has also fought Alex Pereira multiple times in Kickboxing, just like Artem, so he’s a common opponent for both athletes.
Artem Vakhitov and Alex Pereira went 1-1 in GLORY, switching the LHW-belt in two razor close, extremely high-level championship fights.
Vakhitov was the long-reigning champion, when in January 2021 Pereira won the title by split decision to become the first and only fighter to have held GLORY-titles in two weight classes simultaneously.
Later that year, Artem Vakhitov won the title back by majority decision.
Alex edged the first and Artem the second, though it actually looks like the majority of people thought Vakhitov won the first fight and Pereira the second (so in the end they still would’ve been 1-1, lol).
Imo there’s arguments for both fights to go either way.
First fight (Alex Pereira won the title):
Second fight (Artem Vakhitov won the title back):
Here’s a highlights video of both fights combined:
Alex Pereira and César Almeida fought a total of 3 times in Kickboxing!
Here’s their third and final meeting, for the WGP Middleweight-championship (which Poatan won):
Roman Kopylov is a five-time world champion in hand-to-hand Combat Sambo, and has also won several European and Russian championships.
In 2018 he became the Fight Nights Global middleweight champion, a title he defended one time before signing with the UFC in 2019.
Moreover, Roman is a formidable Kickboxer in his own right. However, César Almeida has faced the sport’s elites such as GLORY Middleweight champion Donovan Wisse, Serkan Özçağlayan, and Alex Pereira, which should give the Brazilian the edge in the stand-up battle.
While Roman can leverage his MMA-experience to initiate grappling, what happens if that road is not working out?
As seen in Dylan Budka’s fight against Cesinha two months ago, fatigue can set in, which led to him getting finished in the 2nd round. Therefore, having a plan B and being prepared to engage with an elite Kickboxer is crucial.
And who would be more suited to prepare Kopylov for this challenge than Artem Vakhitov?
On the other side, César Almeida, a former GLORY Kickboxing contender and WGP-, WKN- and SUPERKOMBAT champion, has been preparing himself with high-level training partners aswell, at Xtreme Couture with the likes of Caio Borralho, Michel Pereira, Roman Dolidze, Chris Curtis and Brad Tavares:
Who will take the win tonight, Roman Kopylov or César Almeida?
And how do you guys see this fight play out?
