Alex Pereira and Artem Vakhitov may be fierce rivals when it comes to combat sports, but there’s nothing but respect between them outside the ring.

On Tuesday night, Vakhitov scored a first-round knockout on Contender Series but UFC CEO Dana White was on the fence about whether or not to sign him to a contract. After attending the UFC APEX show to watch Vakhitov’s performance, Pereira actually put in a good word for the former GLORY Kickboxing champion and he was signed to a contract.

Following the event, Pereira and Vakhitov ran into each other backstage and chatted through translators.

“To be honest, I’m very happy see you winning,” Vakhitov told Pereira. “I love what’s happening with you right now over here. So just keep doing it, keep winning, I’ll be watching this. I’ll be focused on myself. Hopefully after a few more defenses, it will happen so that we’ll meet each other again.”

(Video courtesy of Vakhitov’s manager Andrey Busygin)

While both fighters were competing in GLORY, Pereira defeated Vakhitov by split decision in their first encounter before the Russian got his revenge with a majority decision in the rematch. That fight served as Pereira’s final appearance in GLORY before signing with the UFC where he’s gone on to become a two-division champion in short order.

After Vakhitov decided to make a full-time transition to MMA, he exchanged more than a few messages with Pereira through interviews and over social media.

No matter what was said, Vakhitov promised it was never anything personal but just about business.

“Nothing but respect,” Vakhitov said. “All love and it’s just sports. That’s all it is.”

The fighters shook hands and shared a hug, with Pereira giving Vakhitov a few parting words with a laugh between everybody involved after he gave his former opponent the extra nod he needed to get into the UFC.

“You owe me one,” Pereira said.

Vakhitov joins the UFC with a 3-1 record in his MMA career with all of his wins coming by first-round knockout.

With captain Seamus Coleman sidelined, Nathan Collins will continue to stand in as skipper.

The Brentford defender took the armband for the closing stages of the England game after Coleman limped off before and retained captaincy duties against Greece.

“I probably didn’t take in the moment as much as I should have, but that’s just the way I am,” Collins, 23, said of deputising for Coleman last month.

“My family did – I think they were crying in the stand. Honestly, it means a lot to me and my family.”

Collins, who has started all seven of Brentford’s Premier League games this season, added: “I think in this camp, it’s really easy being a captain of this team as there are so many leaders. I could go through this team and you could name six or seven boys who would help me out, chip in, talk, motivate, and it makes my job easier.

“We’re missing a few of the older boys, past leaders, and it is time for boys to step up and time for us to start showing our leadership.”

LAS VEGAS – Dana White likes the idea of a four-man BMF title tournament that’s been proposed by Dustin Poirier.

Poirier (30-8 MMA, 22-7 UFC), who lost to Justin Gaethje by knockout in their BMF title fight at UFC 291, would love to enter that title picture again. The BMF title has since changed hands when Max Holloway scored an iconic knockout of Gaethje at UFC 300 in April.

Poirier knows he doesn’t have too many fights left in him but would be all in for a four-man BMF tournament between him, Gaethje (25-5 MMA, 8-5 UFC), Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC), and Dan Hooker (24-12 MMA, 14-8 UFC). Poirier has history with all three fighters, going 1-1 with Gaethje, and defeating both Holloway and Hooker.

“That excites me because that kind of stuff is for the dogs, man,” Poirier told MMA Today. “That’s like the old PRIDE days or grand prixs, you know? That’s a real BMF. If you can fight in a tournament in one night, multiple opponents, I mean, dude, that’s kind of the definition of a BMF.”

White, who’s instantly shot down other tournaments before, had a positive reaction when asked about Poirier’s idea.

“Sounds fun,” White said during a Dana White’s Contender Series 75 post-fight news conference at the UFC Apex. “Never thought about it, but yeah, I love it.”

A tournament would also excite Hooker, who responded on “X.”

“Don’t threaten me with a good time. .”

Don’t threaten me with a good time. 😂 https://t.co/ag45arvez4

— Dan Hangman Hooker (@danthehangman) October 9, 2024

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Since losing his BMF title fight against Gaethje, Poirier rebounded with a knockout of Benoit Saint Denis at UFC 299. He then challenged lightweight champion Islam Makhachev at UFC 302 but fell short by fourth-round submission.

As for BMF champion Holloway, he will look to add another belt when he challenges featherweight champion Ilia Topuria in the UFC 308 main event Oct. 26 in Abu Dhabi.

Renato Moicano is looking to fight sooner rather than later, but for an opponent like Justin Gaethje he’s willing to wait.

Fresh off his second-round stoppage win over Benoit Saint Denis in the UFC Paris main event, Moicano wasted no time looking ahead at what’s next. With four wins in a row in the UFC’s ultra-competitive lightweight division, the 35-year-old Brazilian believes he’s earned the opportunity to face a big name, but more than anything he wants the chance to move closer to a title shot.

“I would fight anybody above me in the rankings,” Moicano told MMA Fighting. “Justin Gaethje, everybody really. I don’t care. I want to keep fighting, like I keep telling everybody I’m 35, I need to go. That’s time to go. I need one more win. I need a title shot.

“Depending on the opponent and how my next fight goes, that definitely could be a title shot next. I want to fight as soon as possible.”

Gaethje is an intriguing possibility as one of the most recognized names in the division with a style that always provides entertaining fights. The former interim lightweight champion hasn’t fought since April when he suffered a devastating knockout loss to Max Holloway at UFC 300, but he’s been teasing his return in recent weeks. Gaethje’s longtime manager Ali Abdelaziz told MMA Fighting he would likely come back in March.

While Moicano is anxious to book his next fight, Gaethje is one name that would make him hit the pause button and wait if the UFC came calling with that matchup.

“I can wait to fight Justin Gaethje in March, 100 percent,” Moicano said. “I see no problems. Especially him coming off a knockout, I think I am a good fight to test him against, especially because he’s a wrestler. He can defend takedowns. I think that would be an awesome fight. So I would wait until March for Gaethje.”

Throughout his UFC career, Gaethje has built a reputation as arguably the most exciting fighter on the entire roster, earning a remarkable eight Fight of the Night bonuses. Overall, Gaethje has racked up 13 bonuses in 13 appearances in the UFC and he’s the only fighter in the history of the promotion to earn a post-fight bonus in each of his first seven fights with the company.

Past opponents like Dustin Poirier have compared fighting Gaethje to going through a car crash — even if you survive, you still don’t walk away unscathed. That sort of opponent requires a different kind of mindset, but Moicano promises he’s more than ready for whatever Gaethje throws at him and he’ll fire back with the same bad intentions.

“I would beat Justin Gaethje. I don’t care,” Moicano said. “I don’t really care. He could be the baddest guy on the planet, the ‘BMF’ and stuff but I don’t care. I’m not losing. If they send me the contract, I will knock him the f*ck out. I’m telling you.

“I’m not going to say I’m not going to shoot for a takedown because I will, but I will try to knock him out, too. Ground-and-pound, standup, I don’t care.”

Despite the run he’s on right now, Moicano recognizes time waits for no one and fighters finding success on the other side of 30 is rare in this sport. That’s one reason why he’s so anxious to find out about his next fight so he can get back to work in the gym and start getting ready.

In an ideal world, Moicano would fight somebody like Gaethje next and then move on to a title shot before 2025 is over.

“I’m not losing,” Moicano said. “I can’t afford to lose, literally. I need to win every fight to get to the belt and now it’s my time.

“I don’t know the plans for Gaethje. What they’re going to do with Gaethje. Will Gaethje fight Poirier again like last fight? They could do that but if they don’t do that, I’m here. I’m here to get my title shot after I beat Justin Gaethje.”

Ghana will face Nigeria for a place at the 2024 African Nations Championship (CHAN) after the West African rivals were paired together at the qualifying draw on Wednesday.

The sides also met ahead of the 2022 finals, with Ghana qualifying via a penalty shoot-out following a 2-2 draw on aggregate.

The 42 entrants for the 2024 tournament, which is for domestic-based players on the continent, have been split into six regional zones.

Five of the zones will provide three qualifiers each but the Cecafa region has been handed a fourth space because Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda will all be involved in the preliminaries despite qualifying automatically as joint hosts.

The Confederation of African Football (Caf) says the team “achieving the best result in the Cecafa qualifiers” will advance.

As a result the finals, which will be held from 1-28 February next year, will feature 19 teams – an increase on the 18-team 2022 edition.

The format of the tournament is yet to be announced.

The two rounds of regional qualifiers will take place on a home-and-away basis, with the second round ending on 27-29 December.

Two-time winners Morocco, 2011 champions Tunisia and 2014 winners Libya are the only entrants from the North African region, so are all guaranteed a place at the finals.

CHAN holders Senegal will face either Sierra Leone or Liberia in the second round of qualifying.

Caf has increased the prize money from the previous edition by 60%, with the winners of the 2024 finals set to receive $2m (£1.53m).

The staging of the 2024 CHAN finals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda is being seen as a test event before the East African neighbours host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations.

LAS VEGAS – It was Artem Vakhitov’s former kickboxing rival who talked Dana White into signing him to the UFC.

Vakhitov (3-1) earned a UFC contract Tuesday when he scored a first-round TKO of Islem Masraf (3-1) at Dana White’s Contender Series 75 from the UFC Apex. White admits he was initially hesitant to sign former two-time Glory light heavyweight champion Vakhitov, the last man to defeat Alex Pereira in kickboxing, but “Poatan” convinced him.

“That’s why I’m so late. I’ve been back there talking to Alex this whole time,” White told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during a Dana White’s Contender Series 75 post-fight news conference. “He said, ‘Obviously, a little more clinching than you would expect.’ You would expect the other guy to clinch with him, not him clinching. But he said, ‘This is what I think. I think he’s talented enough. I think he deserves to be here. He’s had, obviously, a ton of fights in his career.’

“Which is what I thought, too, going in. He said, ‘I think that the Contender Series, no matter where you’ve fought or what you’ve done, puts a different type of pressure on you, and you might not perform the way you normally would.’ He thinks that this is a tremendous amount of pressure. He said, ‘All I know is I’m glad I never had to go through the Contender Series.’”

Vakhitov and Pereira split their two kickboxing appearances. Pereira won the first fight by split decision and Vakhitov avenged his loss in their rematch by majority decision.

White acknowledges that many fighters have noticed the success that former kickboxers Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira have had in the UFC, and want to follow suit.

“What I actually think, like we were saying earlier, it’s fascinating how these guys that came out of this whole circuit with Israel and Alex, including them, are doing so well in the UFC,” White said. “It’s fascinating, so yeah, why not? I think it’s all of it. Obviously, those guys fought crazy fights that I’m sure they didn’t make any money. Joanna Jedrzejczyk and many others come over here, and it’s absolutely life changing for them.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for DWCS 75.