Fans have only been able to watch Russian heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov (17-4) fight as a mixed martial artist three times since September 2007, now they may get a chance to see him fight up to three times to become the Strikeforce World Grand Prix tournament champion.Kharitonov noted in a recent interview that he’d put mma on the backburner due to a shoulder injury he received defeating fellow tournament participant Alistair Overeem at a K-1 HERO’s event in September 2007. The Russian instead concentrated on his kickboxing over the past few years, now he feels “100% better” and is ready to return making his Strikeforce debut against Andrei Arlovski on Feb. 12th in San Jose.
“Anything can happen in a fight, but I am very well prepared. I feel the best in years. [I] trained my stand-up and ground and [have] no injuries; I am ready to break some bones. I train with Alistair and we are 1-1. We could meet in the finals and again we will have a brawl. Its not really that much different [than] how we train and do sparring in the gym…I beat Alistair and [Fabricio] Werdrum and [did] that at a time when my stand-up skills were not 25% [of] what [they are] now. You do the math. I do not watch fights from Andrei Arlovski. For me he is just another obstacle that has to be removed. I do not care what his problems were or if he was a champion or not. I will break him.”Kharitonov last mma bout took place less than a month ago when he defeated Tatsuya Mizuno by knockout at the Dynamite!! 2010 event, it was his only mma appearance of 2010.
HT: Tapology.com
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