Sergei Kharitonov Discusses Antonio Silva, Alistair Overeem, Golden Glory

Sergei Kharitonov is a heavyweight mixed martial artist and kickboxer. He has 26 fights to his name and has a reputation of fighting to finish or be finished.

Kharitonov is in the final week of preparations for a heavyweight showdown with Josh Barnett in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix semifinals.

A lot has happened between Kharitonov's quarterfinal victory over Andre Arlovski and now. Kharitonov took some time out of his training schedule to discuss his fight and the news surrounding his camp that has unfolded in recent weeks.

Barnett is a different fighter than Arlovski, he is much more well rounded and possesses a very high-level wrestling and submission game. Kharitonov has been working hard in Thailand with heavyweight ground specialist John-Olav Einemo.

"I am training in Thailand, training with John-Olav Einemo, Errol Zimmerman, [Muay] Thai trainer Wiet, Bas Boon, Cor Hemmers and other Golden Glory fighters; [I'm] doing great!" Kharitonov said in an interview with Bleacher Report.

When asked about Barnett's style and whether it poses any problems, Kharitonov was quick to go back to Barnett's last fight with Brett Rogers.

"He [Barnett] has better ground skills than Rogers, but Rogers was still surviving the first round against a much more experienced grappler. I worked a lot on my ground skills, although I like to keep it standing, I am ready for the ground game too," he said.

One gets the feeling Kharitonov feels he is much stronger on the ground than Rogers. If Rogers was able to survive off his back for more than a round before submitting to Barnett, Kharitonov thinks he should do much better.

Kharitonov has a point—he has only lost once via submission, and training one's ground game with a guy like Einemo would give anyone looking to improve their ground skills a leg up on the competition.

Although training camp has been going well for Kharitonov, the atmosphere surrounding him leading up to his fight this weekend hasn't exactly been the most upbeat.

Shortly after Kharitonov's teammate Alistair Overeem won his Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix quarterfinal, a bomb was dropped on Team Golden Glory. Both Strikeforce and the UFC released all Golden Glory fighters from their contracts, with the exception of Kharitonov.

Overeem has since been signed to an exclusive long-term deal with the UFC, but former women's bantamweight, 135-pound champion Marloes Coenen, Einemo and Overeem's brother Valentijn aren't back under the Zuffa umbrella.

Despite the situation, Kharitonov remained upbeat and pretty confident in what the future holds for him.

"They all left to make place for me," Kharitonov said, laughing. "I never doubt my management. I think you can see that now for yourself with the recent deal Alistair Overeem signed with the UFC. After I get the Strikeforce belt I will meet Alistair again for a third time for the UFC belt, no problem."

Being one of the last guys left fighting in Zuffa from Golden Glory, one would expect Kharitonov to be feeling some pressure, but he simply doesn't see it that way.

"I am in great shape and will preform well. This will be a hard fight but I will win for me and my team Golden Glory," Kharitonov said.

With the UFC signing of Overeem, things are looking better for team Golden Glory and Kharitonov was quick to acknowledge that.

"Alistair did sign the deal and Lorenzo said to the LA Times that the relationship with Golden Glory management was perfect and that more Golden Glory fighters can be seen soon in the UFC," Kharitonov said. "I never doubted my management."

Despite all the fuss surrounding Kharitonov's team, he has a fight to win next week and a tournament to win after. Should Kharitonov beat Barnett on Saturday and win the Grand Prix, he will be considered among the top heavyweights in the world.

"I do not care, I just want to win the tournament, even if I would have to fight them both in one evening," Kharitonov said when asked whom he would prefer to face Antonio Silva or Daniel Cormier should he defeat Barnett.

"When I win the tournament," he said, "I would like to defend that belt in Strikeforce and also challenge the UFC champion."

It still hasn't been confirmed whether the Strikeforce heavyweight belt will be on the line during the Grand Prix, but Kharitonov obviously wants it.

Eventually moving to the UFC wouldn't be a bad idea for Kharitonov—he would be able to challenge himself against the best and would add depth to what is arguably one of the shallower divisions in the UFC. His style of fighting would also make for some interesting matchups and exciting fights in the UFC.

In fact, it would probably serve the UFC well to sign all the top Strikeforce heavyweights (Silva, Cormier, Kharitonov and Barnett), as it will add tons of depth. Everyone loves to watch heavyweights slug it out—no matter what the combat sport—particularly the casual fan. And with the UFC's new deal on Fox, the more high-caliber heavyweight bouts that can be put on, the better.

At one point, both Overeem and Kharitonov were rumored to be fighting on a United Glory fight card in Moscow this October. With Overeem's signing of an exclusive UFC contract we can be sure that he won't be on the United Glory card, but the door might still be open for Kharitonov.

"Alistair signed an exclusive deal, for me it depends on the result of my fight with Barnett and how long it will take for the title fight to be organized," Kharitonov said. "If there is room, sure, I fight in Moscow."

K-1 rules or MMA at United Glory?

"Does not matter for me, but I sure do like K-1 fighting," Kharitonov said.

Things seem to have settled down between Zuffa and team Golden Glory, and hopefully for Golden Glory's sake more of their fighters are signed back on. Kharitonov is confident he will beat Barnett this weekend regardless of what has gone on around him, and he expects to be fighting for the UFC title at some point.

His confidence is flying high, and Bleacher Report thanks him for taking the time out of his schedule to chat.

In closing, Kharitonov had a message for sponsors and fans: 

"I want to thank Fight Game: 'Only a Fighter Knows the Feeling,' and the first video game for mobile phones called Fight Game Rivals has just been released. I will be in the new Fight Game Rivals game." 

Leon Horne is a writer for Bleacher Report; keep up with him on Twitter @Leon_Horne.