Ciryl Gane pulls in Artem Vakhitov for Pereira camp, Poatan shrugs it off ahead of UFC White House

Ciryl Gane is going into his interim heavyweight title fight at UFC Freedom 250 with an unusual recruiting pitch. According to Yahoo Sports’ Morning Report, the French contender enlisted Artem Vakhitov, a former Alex Pereira kickboxing rival, to help sharpen his preparation for “Poatan” at the White House event on June 14, 2026. The move indicates how much Gane’s camp believes the quickest path to success is not just training hard, but training with specific stylistic knowledge of how Pereira reacts under pressure.

Vakhitov and Pereira know each other from the Glory kickboxing ring, not the UFC octagon. In their two high-level meetings, Pereira won the first bout at Glory 77 via split decision, before Vakhitov evened the series with a majority-decision win in the rematch at Glory 78. Sherdog reported that Vakhitov posted sparring footage with Gane on social media in the lead-up to UFC White House, and that Gane has been working with him as he prepares for the interim title shot.

Gane’s own UFC résumé explains why he is reaching for any advantage he can find. The 30-something heavyweight veteran has held the interim heavyweight belt before, but his attempt to convert that status into undisputed ownership has repeatedly stalled. Sports Illustrated noted Gane has lost bids to unify the heavyweight belts, including a defeat against Francis Ngannou at UFC 270 and a submission loss to Jon Jones in a fight for the vacant title at UFC 285. More recently, his heavyweight title pursuit ran into an abrupt end at UFC 321 when a bout with Tom Aspinall was ruled a no contest after eye-poke fouls.

For Vakhitov, joining the camp also comes with unfinished business against MMA, even if his next appearance will still be through the lens of the Pereira rivalry. SI reported Vakhitov had moved toward an MMA opportunity, earning a Contender Series invite after a quick finish in 2024, but he ultimately did not make it into the UFC after he was reportedly dissatisfied with the terms and returned to kickboxing. UOL also described Vakhitov as the last kickboxing opponent to trouble “Poatan” and said he linked up with Gane’s team in Paris during camp.

Pereira, though, is not treating the partnership as a psychological threat. Brazilian coverage of Poatan’s comments framed his reaction as dismissive, arguing that kickboxing and MMA require different problem-solving and that he has evolved past the version of himself Vakhitov faced in Glory. In those reports, Poatan said the difference between the sports matters, and that any advice Vakhitov could offer would ultimately be less important than what Pereira will do once the fight begins.

The stakes for this fight are enormous beyond the interim belt. UFC’s own event preview language positioned Pereira’s challenge as a historic opportunity to become the first fighter to win UFC gold in three weight classes, if he can get past Gane on June 14. That context turns Gane’s decision to train with Vakhitov into more than trivia. If Vakhitov’s experience helps Gane anticipate how Pereira builds offense and punishes distance, it could sharpen game plans for the standup exchanges that will likely define early rounds. What to watch next is whether additional camp footage or quotes show a specific focus from Gane’s team, and whether Pereira’s camp continues to frame the matchup as a pure skill question rather than a matchup puzzle.