Veteran mixed martial arts heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov was the victim of a vicious assault at the hands of UFC Fighter Adam Yandiev.
The violent incident occurred outside of the ’Battle of Champions’ combat sports event in Moscow and apparently spawned from Kharitonov telling Yandiev he owed him money.
Multiple videos of the assault have surfaced on Twitter and can be seen below:
Адам Яндиев vs Сергей Харитонов. Причина драки неизвестна. По слухам, за деньги и/или какой-то долг. #драка #харитонов #яндиев #мма #россия #mma #Dynamitemen pic.twitter.com/saoHy1yOS9
— Александр Орманжи (@Ormanzh) November 14, 2020
Харитонов нарвался на ингуша Яндиева. после чего Харитонова госпитализировали. pic.twitter.com/eeIXLPKPEb
— Аристофан (@batumi70) November 13, 2020
In a video interview released from the hospital, Sergei Kharitonov explained that he had previously lent Adam Yandiev money on multiple occasions. He also added that one of those loans was to help Yandiev escape a violent feud in Russia and go to train in Thailand.
“I felt he hit me with something with his left hand,” Kharitonov said (translated via RT). “I know he always wore brass knuckles, he always had them with him… He broke my orbital bone.”
Adam Yandiev (9-1 MMA), who has competed once since joining the UFC roster in 2018, released his own statement on the alleged assault against Sergei Kharitonov and promises there is more to the story.
“There will be a full interview, where [I will talk] from beginning to end about my relationship with this character,” Yandaev wrote on Instagram. “About the conflict that happened between us. It’s all with the facts, the evidence. You’ll find out tomorrow. Please don’t write nonsense and heresy from the words of this liar. A little patience.”
Sergei Kharitonov (32-8 MMA) was most recently seen in action at last weekend’s Parus Fighting Championship event in Abu Dhabi, where he scored a beautiful first round knockout victory over Oli Thompson (see that here).
The victory marked Kharitonov’s second stoppage victory in a row, as he had defeated Fernando Rodriguez Jr. by knockout in his most previous effort this past February.
The UFC has yet to release a statement regarding the alleged assault committed by promotional middleweight Adam Yandaev.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com November 15, 2020