Chase Gormley believes Sergei Kharitonov may be easier to put away thanks to his last outing.
Gormley battles Kharitonov this Friday night (March 31) inside the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois. The heavyweight bout will be part of the Bellator 175 card. The main card airs live on Spike at 9 p.m. ET and is set to be headlined by a rematch between Quinton Jackson and Muhammad Lawal.
Kharitonov suffered an upset knockout loss at the hands of Javy Ayala back in Nov. 2016. Gormley told MMAMania.com that he feels the “Paratrooper” may have not fully recovered from the 16-second finish:
“I think he just kinda caught him off guard. Sergei hadn’t fought in a while and probably thought it was gonna be an easy fight and got a rude awakening. I think this fight he’ll probably not make that same mistake, and I’m gonna have a tough fight on my hands, but I think he got knocked out pretty good. His brain probably hasn’t healed all the way. I think that’s gonna play a big role if I go out there the first minute and just try to crack him a good one, he’ll go down a lot easier than if his brain healed all the way.”
