(PRESS RELEASE) -- ST. PETERSBURG, Russia - M-1 Global announced today that two of the top heavyweight fighters in the world, Sergei Kharitonov (21-5-0, 11 KO/TKO, 9 SUB) and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Satoshi Ishii (12-3-1, 1 KO/TKO, 4 SUB), will square-off November 11 on M-1 Challenge 53: Battle in the Celestial Kingdom at Wukesong Arena in Beijing, China.
M-1 Challenge 53 will be streamed in high definition on www.M1Global.TV, live from China. Viewers will be able to watch the preliminary fights and main card by logging on to register at www.M1Global.TV. Fans may watch all of the action on their computers, as well as on Andriod and Apple smart phones and tablets.
The 6' 4", 260-pound Kharitonov, fighting out of Russia, has defeated Fabricio Werdum, Pedro Rizzo, Andrei Arlovski and Alistar Overeem during his 5 ½ year MMA career.
Kharitonov has been more involved in kickboxing than mixed martial arts of late, but his return to MMA and M-1 Global finds him in the ring with rising Japanese star and judo sensation, Ishii, in a Special Heavyweight Attraction.
Ishii has beaten, among the more notable MMA fighters, Jeff Monson, Pedro Rizzo and Tim Sylvia. Last month, Ishii suffered a cut that cost him his fight against Mirko "Crop Cop" Fillipovich.
The 5' 11", 240-pound Ishii will be fighting in his third M-1 Global event having lost in 2011 to legendary Fedor Emelianenko by way of a first-round knockout by punches. Satoshi defeated Monson last October in M-1 Challenge 42 in St. Petersburg, Russia.
M-1 Global originally planned to match Kharitonov against former M-1 Challenge heavyweight champion, Damian "Polish Pitbull" Grabowski (19-2-0, 6 KO/TKO, 6 SUB), who recently lost his title to Tybura. Plans will soon be announced for Grabowski's return.
Russian welterweight Muslim "King of Kung Fu" Salikhov (2-1-0, 1 KO/TKO, 0 SUB) is also scheduled to fight on M-1 Challenge 53.
Additional fights and opponents will soon be announced. All fights and fighters are subject to change.
ABOUT M-1 GLOBAL: Founded in 1997, M-1 Global has established itself in the realm of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world's next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St Petersburg, Amsterdam and Los Angeles and affiliates in Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged more than 150 events worldwide, including the M-1 Selection, M-1 Challenge and M-1 Gobal and M-1 Global HWGP events, in addition to co-promoting Strikeforce events and M-1 Global on the Showtime network in the United States. Captivating live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and matchups, M-1 Global events have featured some of the sport's top names, including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Keith Jardine, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Yushin Okami, Mike Pyle, Denis Kang, Martin Kampmann, Amar Suloev, Chalid Arrab and Stephan Struve. 2014 promises to be another sensational year of world-class competition with a full calendar of Challenge events fueled by a talent-rich contention system ranking M-1 Global's Champions amongst the greatest in the sport. M-1 Global's greatest asset is renowned heavyweight fighter, Fedor Emelianenko.
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