SANTA MONICA (二月 3, 2015) - 謝爾蓋Kharitonov (23-5) is the newest free agent by Bellator MMA, with the news that the Russian heavyweight has been signed to an exclusive multi-year, 多打合同. A veteran of both Strikeforce and Pride Fighting Championships, Kharitonov remains on active duty with the Russian Airborne Troops.

Doubling as a kickboxer at different points throughout his combat sports career, “The Paratrooper” has decided to parlay his recent five-fight winning streak and focus purely on mixed martial arts. Kharitonov’s resume is extensive, with the 35-year-old scoring wins against some of the sport’s most notable names including UFC Heavyweight Champion Fabricio Werdum, 安德烈Arlovski, 佩德羅裡佐, 穆里洛“忍者”魯阿, 和 Alistair Overeem.

“I have had the best seat in the house for some of Kharitonov’s heavyweight outings,“Bellator MMA總裁斯科特·科克說：, “and I know Sergei [Kharitonov] can come in and make an immediate impact on our heavyweight division. He is an extremely skilled and experienced fighter who can end a fight in the blink of an eye, and we look forward to having him do just that inside the Bellator cage. 更多, he’s already competed at one ‘Dynamite’ event before, maybe he could do so again in the future!”

Kharitonov joins a division that is currently championed by fellow Russian fighter 維塔利Minakov, other top names include 鮑比·拉什利, 謝赫·金剛, 維尼修斯奎羅斯, Kimbo切片, 托尼·約翰遜, 賈斯汀雷恩, 查爾斯·丹, 和 詹姆斯·湯普森.