Cup check! Mitrione vs Kharitonov 2 booked for Bellator 225 in August

Sergei Kharitonov is a brave man.

The Russian fighter will rematch Matt Mitrione in the main event of Bellator 225, which will take inside Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, Conn., on Aug. 24, 2019t. While technically a rematch, the first fight between the two at Bellator 215 in Feb. 2019 ended just 15 seconds into the bout. Mitrione threw a hard inside leg kick that went high, smashing Kharitonov’s groin and ending the fight immediately.

Kharitonov would end up being stretchered out of the ring and taken to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him with a hemorrhoid from the sack kick. The fight would be ruled a “No Contest” and Matt Mitrione would sheepishly apologize as best he could for turning the main event into a total clusterf**k.

But, now the two will run it back, hopefully with very different — and less controversial — results.

Kharitonov will have to watch his luck, though. The groin strike “No Contest” in 2019 was proceeded by a “No Contest” in 2018 where his win over Anton Vyazigin was overturned because of an accidental eye poke. That’s some recent bad luck that unfortunately takes away from the five other victories he’s earned since the start of 2017, three via knockout.

Mitrione started his Bellator career with a four-fight win streak, including a knockout victory over Fedor Emelianenko. But, Ryan Bader defeated him in the Heavyweight Grand Prix semi-finals and then there was this odd quick groin kick oddity. We’re sure “Meathead” will be looking forward to erasing the memory of this one in the rematch.