Fresh off some big signings, Eagle FC is getting ready to launch the 2022 campaign this Friday on January 28th.
Taking centre stage for the event are two highly decorated strikers looking to clash as Sergei Kharitonov looks to add to his knockout resume as he takes on kickboxing legend, Tyrone Spong.
Main Event
The 41-year-old Kharitonov enters the bout with a record of 33-9 and 2 no contests and is coming off a first-round TKO victory over UFC veteran Fabio Maldonado in November.
Kharitonov also has KO victories over the likes of Semmy Schilt, Alistair Overeem, Andrei Arlovski, Roy Nelson, and Matt Mitrione to name a few.
In the other corner will be Tyrone Spong, who makes his return to MMA for the first time since 2013. Spong gained major fame for his tenure in the kickboxing ranks as he built a record of 107 wins, 7 losses and only one no contest.
During his time as a kickboxer, Spong won the Glory Light Heavyweight Championship and had big wins against Ray Sefo, Peter Aerts, and Remy Bonjasky. Things changed for Spong in 2014 as he suffered a terrible fracture on his leg during his fight against Gokhan Saki, leaving Spong away from MMA competition.
Spong since then has kept busy with a stellar boxing career where he currently holds a 14-0 record so it is interesting to see how the fight plays out with the possibility of a boxing heavy style between the two or if Spong could reignite his skill set as a kickboxer.
Heavyweights clash on Friday night! @Tyrone_Spong vs @KharitonovMMA #EagleFC44 | LIVE at 6pmET on @EagleOnFLX! pic.twitter.com/K492wYbRT6
— Eagle Fight Club (@EagleFightClub) January 26, 2022
Co-Main
In the co-main of the event, we have the return of former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans after a four-year retirement stint to take on Gabriel Checco.
Going into his return bout, Evans has lost his last five fights with his last win dating back to 2013 against Chanel Sonnen. Now at 42 years old, we will see what kind of shape and competition the former champ has to offer as his opponent, Checco has a strong sense of Grappling opponents into submission so we should expect Evans to try to keep the fight standing and should the fight go down to the mat try to maintain ground control over Checco.
Checco is coming into the bout at a 12-5 MMA record with big Jiu-Jitsu matches against Mason Fowler and Craig Jones.
As mentioned earlier, known for his grappling skills, Evans has never been submitted in his MMA career, Checco more than likely will look to be the first to stamp a submission loss on Evans records.
Suga is BACK!@GabrielChecco meets @SugaRashadEvans at #EagleFC44! #EagleFC44 | LIVE at 6pmET on @EagleOnFLX! pic.twitter.com/JtJAtgPRQP
— Eagle Fight Club (@EagleFightClub) January 26, 2022
As for the rest of the card, it features former UFC fighter Cody Gibson who looks to continue to make a case for another run at the UFC promotion as he squares off against Ray Borg.
Since being released from the UFC, Gibson is 6-1 with his last win being against John Dodson. Borg meanwhile, was released by the UFC in 2020 after withdrawing from 2 different fights but later picking up a win against Jesse Arnett in June 2021.
Ramazan Kuramagomedov looks to extend his undefeated 9-0 record against UFC veteran John “Doomsday” Howard, and UFC and WEC veteran Anthony Njokuani returns to MMA competition for the first time since 2016 against 3 straight fight winner, Raimond Magomedaliev.
Featured Image from Eagle FC Twitter.
