Sergei Kharitonov

Sergei Valerievich Kharitonov (Серге́й Вале́рьевич Харито́нов, ; born August 18, 1980) is a Russian professional heavyweight mixed martial artist and former kickboxer.

Sergei Kharitonov was born on August 18, 1980, in Plesetsk, Russian SFSR, (now Russia).

His parents were very athletic: Sergei's mother was a volleyball coach, and his father at various times studied boxing, skating, football, and long distance marathon running.

Under their influence, Sergei was very active physically while growing up.

Kharitonov graduated from a high school with a specialization in music (accordion).

Following the advice of his parents as well as his own dreams, Sergei went to the Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School, and enlisted in the Russian Airborne Troops after finishing the academy.

Kharitonov credits the army and the academy with giving him psychological skills he relies on during his fights.

A professional MMA competitor since 2000, Kharitonov has previously fought in Japanese MMA organizations PRIDE Fighting Championships & DREAM (Both in Japan), Bellator MMA, M-1 Global, Strikeforce, and GLORY.

Kharitonov has competed in two major mixed martial arts tournaments and one major kickboxing tournament.

He holds notable wins over former EliteXC Middleweight Champion Murilo Rua, former K-1 Champion Semmy Schilt, former Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair Overeem, and former UFC Heavyweight Champions Andrei Arlovski and Fabrício Werdum.

Sergei kept competing at various Russian MMA competitions, and in October 2003 he debuted in Pride Fighting Championships, one of the top two leading MMA organizations in the world at that time.

Sergei trains with the Russian national boxing and Sambo teams, as well as some freestyle wrestlers.

He also recently added Muay Thai training to his regimen, and, according to him, he even borrows some elements from karate.

Sergei Kharitonov trained in Kirieevsk, Russia, under coach Mikhail Illoukhine (Михаил Илюхин).

Ilyukhin chose Kirieevsk as their training base due to a large number of heavyweight MMA fighters available there.

According to him, key elements of Sergei's success are his willpower and unpredictability in the ring.

As of late 2005, Kharitonov has struggled with ongoing injuries to his upper back and shoulders, evident in his victory against Fabrício Werdum, in which his right shoulder was strained and injured nearly a minute into the bout, and in his loss to Alistair Overeem, where an awkward fall dislocated his shoulder.

Kharitonov lost to Alexander Emelianenko at Pride's Final Conflict Absolute 2006 on September 9, 2006.

Kharitonov scored a win against Mike Russow at PRIDE 33 in Las Vegas on February 24.

As of September 2007 he recently began training with the Golden Glory fight team in the Netherlands.

In addition to competing in MMA and boxing, Sergei competes in Combat Sambo for the Ryazan Desantnik (Paratrooper) club.

Sergei had a successful career as a heavyweight fighter in the Pride Fighting Championships, with an overall Pride record of 8–3–0.

On September 17, 2007, Kharitonov TKO's Alistair Overeem in the first round in the Hero's 10: Middleweight Tournament Final event, avenging a previous loss.

Kharitonov's next fight was scheduled to be against Mighty Mo at DREAM 6 on September 23, 2008.

However Mighty Mo was forced to withdraw due to a back injury.

Jimmy Ambriz was Mighty Mo's replacement.

Sergei scored a win in the first round by submission via strikes.

At Dream 8 Jeff Monson secured Sergei in a North/South Choke.

The Russian tried punching his way out but was soon forced to tap for the first time in his career.

Until resigning from the military in the late 2010s, Sergei remained on the active duty while training full-time.

His military rank is captain.

Kharitonov sometimes gets confused with his full namesake Sergey Haritonov, a much less prominent mixed martial arts fighter from Estonia.

Sergei started being interested in sports when he was still in kindergarten, being taught at first by his father.

Kharitonov started training boxing seriously when he was ten or eleven years old, following an incident when a drunken adult passer-by broke up a scuffle between Sergei and another boy by lifting Sergei in the air, hitting him in the face and cutting his eyebrow with that punch.

The man justified his behavior by saying that Sergei should not have been hitting a grounded opponent.

At the age of sixteen, Kharitonov started studying Combat Sambo.

During his studies in the Airborne Troops Academy, Sergei started competing in hand-to-hand combat (simplified form of Combat Sambo) and MMA.

After Kharitonov graduated from the Academy, he was contacted by Vladimir Pogodin, the manager of the Russian Top Team, who invited him to join the club.

At first, Sergei was invited to be Fedor Emelianenko's sparring partner, who taught him many ground fighting techniques, including striking on the ground and submissions.

Sergei signed a deal to fight for Strikeforce and made his debut on February 12, 2011.