At his very peak Sergei Kharitonov was an absolute machine. 6'4 235lbs and athletic AF with great boxing, strong sambo and strong will to fight to the death. A paratrooper who spent years training with Fedor and the coaches of Russian Top Team.
At his very best his overall skillset wasn't any worse than that of Stipe or Pavlovich. He could fight technically, he could brawl, he could put hands on people and grapple and he had great toughness and endurance. A guy like this would absolutely be in the top 5 in the UFC today and would easily beat the shit out of bums like Lewis and Tuivasa because his skillset from nearly 20 years ago was better than their skillsers are today.
This was a guy who trained sambo with Fedor for years, a guy whoqualified to box in the Olympics and a guy who spent a good amount of time on the ground with Nog and Werdum in their grappling prime and never came close to being submitted. This type of skillset is valid in today's HW division when you also consider how tough and durable this guy was.
Unfortunately his peak didn't last very long due to injuries. Sergei tore ligaments in his shoulder in his fight fight with Overeem and never fully recovered. He couldn't train grappling any more so he dedicated himself to training striking and moved to Holland to train kickboxing with Golden Glory Gym.
He picked up some good skills in Holland and got some nice wins but his overall game suffered and he wasn't nearly in the same shape that he used to be when he was at his peak in Pride but thats expected when you stop grappling. Ultimately he turned into a fat, plodding puncher who's grappling completely regressed and became a guy who has to cut weight to make the 265lb weight limit.
Sergei reminded me a lot of Stipe in terms of his his frame, his toughness and his approach to fighting. Great 1-2 and good grappling with a great chin. Sergeis best performance was against Big Nog. He lost that fight but showed great skills, toughness and endurance. In general that's one of the best HW fights ever.
Sergei pre injuries.
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Sergei post injuries.
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The shoulder injury which hurt Sergei's career:
