DREAM heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov has agreed to step into a reserve bout and make his kickboxing debut at the K-1 World GP 2009 Final on Dec. 5 in Yokohama, Japan.
Kharitonov, who holds MMA wins over Strikeforce champion Alistair Overeem and current Strikeforce contender Fabricio Werdum, is replacing the injured Chalid "Die Faust" Arrab against Daniel Ghita in one of two reserve bouts for the tournament.
Kharitonov was a major player for the PRIDE from October 2003 until February 2007, racking up a record of 9-3 in the Japanese organization. Kharitonov has fought sporatically since, and only fought once this year, sucumbing to a first-round north-south choke by Jeff Monson at DREAM.8 in April.
K-1 World GP 2009 Final:
K-1 GP Quarterfinals: Ruslan Karaev vs. Badr Hari
K-1 GP Quarterfinals: Alistair Overeem vs. Ewerton Teixeira
K-1 GP Quarterfinals: Jerome Le Banner vs. Semmy Schilt
K-1 GP Quarterfinals: Errol Zimmerman vs. Remy Bonjasky
K-1 GP Reserve Bout: Peter Aerts vs. Gohkan Saki
K-1 GP Reserve Bout: Sergei Kharitonov vs. Daniel Ghita
Superfight: Kyotaro vs. Tyrone Spong
Opening: Singh "Heart" Jaideep vs. Makoto Uehara
Opening: Jan Soukup vs. Tsutomu Takahagi
Opening: Keiichi Samukawa vs. Ryuji Kajiwara
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