UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Alex Pereira is seemingly not concerned about the arrival of a fighter who boasts a win over him in kickboxing to the Octagon.
"Poatan" has already achieved immense success on mixed martial arts' biggest stage, capturing gold at both 185 and 205 pounds. Those achievements were, in part, made possible due to the ready-made storyline that many believe fast-tracked him to the top.
The Brazilian arrived in the UFC with a reputation largely centering around his two wins over Israel Adesanya in the striking-only realm. After just three fights, he was placed opposite the Nigerian-New Zealander and unseated him from the middleweight throne.
Now, Pereira is on the opposite side of such a story.
In his final kickboxing bout before committing to MMA, the former two-weight Glory champion was outpointed by Artem Vakhitov months on from his own narrow decision victory over the Russian.
Vakhitov has also since transitioned to the cage, and he recently began his pursuit of a combat sports trilogy with Pereira by taking aim at his skillset.
The former Glory titleholder will have the chance to move closer to setting up a showdown with "Poatan" in the Octagon when he shoots for a UFC contract on Dana White's Contender Series next week.
Pereira, however, isn't optimistic about the chances of Vakhitov and other kickboxers being able to recreate his story with Adesanya...
During his appearance at UFC 307 media day on Wednesday, Pereira was asked to comment on Vakhitov's transition to MMA and pursuit of the kind of success he's achieved in the sport.
While the Russian has appeared confident about making a quick rise and exposing the current light heavyweight kingpin, Pereira believes Vakhitov to be "mistaken" when it comes to the difficulty that awaits him at the highest level of MMA.
I stopped following kickboxing, so I kind of don't know how he's (Vakhitov) doing," Pereira said. "So I don't know what his potential (is), but I think fighting me in the UFC at this point could be hard.
People get mistaken sometimes (and) think that it's just easy to make a story like Israel Adesanya. Guys that beat me (in) a fight like, long ago, they think that they (can) just come here and make the same story," Pereira continued. "Bro, they are not me, they are not Israel Adesanya.
While Vakhitov has plenty to do before reaching the same conversation as Pereira in the UFC, starting with earning an actual contract next week, "Poatan" showed how quick of a rise up the ladder is possible with a good storyline and some violent knockouts.
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