Artyom Olegovich Vakhitov (; born April 4, 1991) is a Russian kickboxer who competes in the light-heavyweight division. Having begun practicing Muay Thai at eleven years old, Vakhitov first came to prominence due to a successful amateur career by winning three world championships as well as taking gold in 2013 at the World Combat Games. He turned professional in 2009, and signed with Glory in 2013, where he would twice be crowned the Glory Light Heavyweight Champion.
As of 17 June 2023, Vakhitov is ranked the #1 light-heavyweight and #6 pound-for-pound kickboxer in the world by Combat Press.
Early life
Artem Vakhitov was born in Prokopyevsk on April 4, 1991, and began basic martial arts training under his father's tutelage at the age of five years before going on to study karate at the age of six, which he practiced for five years. He was forced to give up karate aged eleven when he and his family moved to another part of the city, but he soon found the Kuzbass Muay Thai gym where he is trained by Vitaly Miller and is a training partner of Artem Levin. Vakhitov holds the classification of Master of Sports in muay Thai, and is also a classically trained musician.
Career
Amateur
Vakhitov first came to prominence when he won the IFMA Russian Championships in 2008 aged seventeen. Following this, he would go on to win the Russian Championships four more times (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2013), the European Championships four times (2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012) and the World Championships three times (2010, 2011 and 2012).
He also won a silver medal in the -81 kg/178 lb division at the 2010 World Combat Games, held in Beijing, China between August 28 and September 4, 2010. After taking unanimous decision wins over Kim Olsen and Nurbolat Sengirov in the quarter-finals and semis, respectively, he then lost to Simon Marcus by split decision in the final.
Competing in the -91 kg/200 lb division at the 2013 World Combat Games in Saint Petersburg, Russia between October 18 and 26, 2013, Vakhitov outpointed Dzianis Hancharonak in the quarters, TKO'd Thomas Alizier and knocked out Emidio Barone with a knee in the final to take the gold medal.
Professional
Early years
In his first outing as a professional, Vakhitov competed in the Souboj Titánů tournament in Plzeň, Czech Republic on November 21, 2009, and made it to the final where he faced Jiri Zak. The bout was ruled a draw after the regulation three rounds and so it went to an extension round to decide the winner, after which Žák took the judges' decision.
The following year, he entered the Tatneft Cup 2010 at -80 kg/176 lb. After beating Saiseelek Nor-Seepun in the opening round on January 31, 2010, and Yordan Yankov in the quarter-finals on April 30, 2010, both by unanimous decision, Vakhitov then exited the competition when he was defeated by his longtime teammate Artem Levin in the semi-finals on July 29, 2010, retiring in his corner at the end of the third round. He then re-entered the tournament, however, when Levin was unable to fight Alexander Stetsurenko in the final due to injury and Vakhitov was selected as his replacement. In a close match on October 20, 2010, Vakhitov took Stetsurenko into an extension round before losing by UD.
Having signed with the short-lived Muaythai Premier League, Vakhitov made his promotional debut on September 2, 2011, at Muaythai Premier League: Stars and Stripes in Long Beach, California, United States where he rematched Simon Marcus. It was a closely contested affair but Marcus edged ahead by successfully scoring from the clinch with elbows and knees on various occasions to win a unanimous decision. He faced another familiar foe in his sophomore MPL appearance, taking on Jiri Zak at Muaythai Premier League: Blood and Steel in The Hague, Netherlands on November 6, 2011. He avenged his earlier loss to the Czech by winning via unanimous decision.
On December 2, 2011, Vakhitov won his first title as a professional, defeating Vando Cabral via TKO due to a cut caused by an elbow in round three at Battle of Champions 6 in Moscow, Russia to become the WMC European Super Light Heavyweight (-82.55 kg/182 lb) Champion.
He was set to replace Artem Levin in a fight with Joe Schilling for the WBC Muaythai Interim World Light Heavyweight Championship at Battle for the Belts in Bangkok, Thailand on June 9, 2012. He withdrew from the bout, however, after conceding that he would be unable to meet the -79.3 kg/175 lb weight limit and his place was taken by Karapet Karapetyan.