[jas123]

**** yeah, the return of Sergei


Sergei Kharitonov (Pictures) could be the one.

Brazilian behemoth Antonio Silva has verbally agreed to face the stoic Russian boxer for the vacant heavyweight crown at EliteXC's July 26 "Saturday Night Fights" at the Stockton Arena in Stockton, Calif.

The bout is currently pending approval from the California State Athletic Commission, according to a rep from Silva's American Top Team.

If greenlighted, the featured bout will be televised live on Showtime beginning at 8 p.m. ET/PT, a prelude to the promotion's sophomore effort on CBS later that evening.

Silva will face extra scrutiny to get cleared for active duty in the Golden State. The 6-foot-4, nearly 300-pound goliath was removed from a K-1 "Dynamite USA" roster over a year ago after pre-fight medical tests revealed a pituitary gland tumor in the 26-year-old's cranial region.

Under the commission's recommendation, "Pezao" underwent surgery last summer to remove the tumor.

Silva, who is known as "Bigfoot" in U.S. circles, has fought two times since. ATT's largest competitor submitted Jonathan Wiezorek (Pictures) in the first round at EliteXC "Renegade" last November in Corpus Christi, Texas, then pulled off a split decision victory over former UFC heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez (Pictures) at February's EliteXC "Certified" in Miami.

Kharitonov, an airborne trooper for Russia's Armed Forces, should prove a formidable foe for the 10-1 Brazilian. The 27-year-old Russian Top Team member has accumulated a 15-3 record, highlighted by his tenure with Pride Fighting Championships, with key victories against Brazilian kickboxer Pedro Rizzo (Pictures), K-1 king Semmy Schilt (Pictures), and UFC heavyweight contender Fabricio Werdum (Pictures).

A pugilist with world-class experience, Kharitonov holds his two most recent successes over American wrestler Michael Russow (Pictures) and hot-and-cold Dutch striker Alistair Overeem (Pictures), who Kharitonov pummeled to a referee stoppage at a K-1 Hero's event in September 2007. The pair originally met in February 2006 in Pride, where Overeem earned the first-round stoppage with brutal knees from side-control.

[robdog]

Should be good. Ill go with Kharitonov.

[Reaper329]

this could be interesting as Silva is skilled at that size. I am not a huge Sergei fan and think he is quite overrated

[robdog]

Originally Posted by Reaper329

this could be interesting as Silva is skilled at that size. I am not a huge Sergei fan and think he is quite overrated

I have to disagree, I think he is underrated. His only losses are to Nog, Aleks, and Overeem (whom he destroyed in the rematch). The Nog fight was also really close. Plus he has an exciting style.

[jas123]

I agree, Sergei's great. He was winning the Aleks fight too until he got stupid with the "Bring it on" crap. I'll take Sergei too.

[Alexander]

**** yeah. I love Sergei. If anyone is overrated it's probably Junior. A year ago many thought he would be the man to beat Fedor. He looked like sh*t against Ricco, although so did Nog. Sergei by intimidation.

[Rodja]

Hopefully, the CSAC won't be a bunch of d-bags again.

[CryingEmo]

Originally Posted by robdog

I have to disagree, I think he is underrated. His only losses are to Nog, Aleks, and Overeem (whom he destroyed in the rematch). The Nog fight was also really close. Plus he has an exciting style.

Speaking of Overeem, have you seen him lately?

Dude's been visiting certain AM forums recently...

[robdog]

Originally Posted by CryingEmo

Speaking of Overeem, have you seen him lately?

Dude's been visiting certain AM forums recently...

Ya he's a jacked mofo. He was always big, the cut to 205 was just too much for him, which is why his cardio was always piss poor. He looks much better at HW.

[robdog]

Originally Posted by jas123

I agree, Sergei's great. He was winning the Aleks fight too until he got stupid with the "Bring it on" crap. I'll take Sergei too.

Haha yeah the was ridiculous. I bet he regretted that when Aleks was painting the mat with his face.

[jas123]

Looks like its Eilers instead of Sergei, not a great trade-off but Eilers should do some ridiculous dance when he gets KOed.

Denny really sucks. I figured he was an up-and-comer, but he's basically a can for Diaz.


Here's a little more news on the event:

The women acquitted themselves well on Elite XC's primetime network Debut in May, and more of the same should be in store for the promotion's second CBS "Saturday Night Fights" card set for July 26 in Stockton, Calif.

EliteXC has announced that their forthcoming card at the Stockton Arena will feature a 140-pound female contest between the surging Shayna Baszler (Pictures) and undefeated Brazilian mauler Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.

With submission victories over Julie Kedzie (Pictures) and Roxanne Modafferi (Pictures), Baszler has further emerged as one of the division's best over the last year, riding a four-fight winning streak in which none of her opponents have escaped the first round. Most recently, "The Queen of Spades" destroyed Keiko "Tama Chan" Tamai this past April, tapping the colorful Japanese veteran with the ever-elusive twister in the first round.

Santos, the wife of Chute Boxe middleweight Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, gained star prospect status in her native Brazil with her brutal performances in both the MMA and muay Thai ring. Undefeated in her MMA career at 4-0, Cyborg was scheduled to compete for Elite XC earlier this year before visa issues delayed her stateside debut.

The live CBS telecast of the second edition of "Saturday Night Fights" will be headlined by the EliteXC middleweight title rematch between Robbie Lawler (Pictures) and Scott Smith after their controversial no contest last May. Also on the televised card, standout 170-pounders Jake Shields and Nick Thompson (Pictures) will square off to crown the inaugural Elite XC welterweight champion, while hometown Stockton native Nick Diaz (Pictures) meets Thomas "Wildman" Denny (Pictures) in a 160-pound contest.

Preceding the CBS telecast will be a three-fight EliteXC offering on Showtime. The hour-long broadcast will feature Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Justin Eilers (Pictures) squaring off for the inaugural EliteXC heavyweight championship, dynamic Brazilian Wilson Reis (Pictures) meeting Brian Caraway (Pictures) in a 140-pound bout, and Brazilian 205-pound prospect Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (Pictures) against a yet-to-be-named opponent.

[robdog]

Originally Posted by jas123

Looks like its Eilers instead of Sergei, not a great trade-off but Eilers should do some ridiculous dance when he gets KOed.

Denny really sucks. I figured he was an up-and-comer, but he's basically a can for Diaz.


Here's a little more news on the event:

The women acquitted themselves well on Elite XC's primetime network Debut in May, and more of the same should be in store for the promotion's second CBS "Saturday Night Fights" card set for July 26 in Stockton, Calif.

EliteXC has announced that their forthcoming card at the Stockton Arena will feature a 140-pound female contest between the surging Shayna Baszler (Pictures) and undefeated Brazilian mauler Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos.

With submission victories over Julie Kedzie (Pictures) and Roxanne Modafferi (Pictures), Baszler has further emerged as one of the division's best over the last year, riding a four-fight winning streak in which none of her opponents have escaped the first round. Most recently, "The Queen of Spades" destroyed Keiko "Tama Chan" Tamai this past April, tapping the colorful Japanese veteran with the ever-elusive twister in the first round.

Santos, the wife of Chute Boxe middleweight Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, gained star prospect status in her native Brazil with her brutal performances in both the MMA and muay Thai ring. Undefeated in her MMA career at 4-0, Cyborg was scheduled to compete for Elite XC earlier this year before visa issues delayed her stateside debut.

The live CBS telecast of the second edition of "Saturday Night Fights" will be headlined by the EliteXC middleweight title rematch between Robbie Lawler (Pictures) and Scott Smith after their controversial no contest last May. Also on the televised card, standout 170-pounders Jake Shields and Nick Thompson (Pictures) will square off to crown the inaugural Elite XC welterweight champion, while hometown Stockton native Nick Diaz (Pictures) meets Thomas "Wildman" Denny (Pictures) in a 160-pound contest.

Preceding the CBS telecast will be a three-fight EliteXC offering on Showtime. The hour-long broadcast will feature Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva and Justin Eilers (Pictures) squaring off for the inaugural EliteXC heavyweight championship, dynamic Brazilian Wilson Reis (Pictures) meeting Brian Caraway (Pictures) in a 140-pound bout, and Brazilian 205-pound prospect Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante (Pictures) against a yet-to-be-named opponent.

Yeah I was reading about this earlier. Depressing to say the least. It will be funny to see Eilers get KO'd in hilarious fashion as usual. He has improved greatly since his last octagon appearance, but not enough to deal with the larger/more skilled Silva. Silva did look terrible against Ricco, but he apparently had some sort of serious injury going into that fight, just cant remember what. I am a Nick Diaz fan, but Shaw is throwing him way too many cans. Hopefully his fight with Sakurai will still go through in Dream.

[jas123]

Nice av, Rob. That's an awesome picture.

What do you think about The Goat's chances against Shields? I've only seen a few of Thompson's older fights and he never made that much of an impression on me for some reason.

[robdog]

Originally Posted by jas123

Nice av, Rob. That's an awesome picture.

What do you think about The Goat's chances against Shields? I've only seen a few of Thompson's older fights and he never made that much of an impression on me for some reason.

Thompson is a good fighter, but shields is way too much for him, imo. I see shields by 1st rd rnc, but we'll see.