A bout of two world-class strikers led the M-1 Challenge 43 tournament, which took place on November 9, 2013 in Surgut.
Repeated winner of various hand-to-hand fighting tournaments Sergey Kharitonov began his performances in mixed martial arts in 2000, having won a number of victories in 2003, he signed a contract with Pride, where he won a big name for himself with victories over Murillo Hua, Sammy Schilt, Pedro Hizzo, Fabricio Werdum and Alistair Overeem. In 2011, he took part in the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix and reached the semifinals by knocking out Andrei Arlovsky in the first fight. In 2013, he signed a contract with M-1 Global. For Sergei, this fight was the first, but far from the last, at tournaments under the auspices of the M-1 Challenge.
Seven-time world champion in Thai boxing, champion of Pro FC Grand Prix, winner of the Heavyweight Grand Prix under the auspices of the Ultimate Fighting Federation, Belarusian Aleksey Kudin approached this fight having won three knockout victories in the last three fights. And the fight with a star fighter from the world of mixed martial arts was another cool challenge for him, for which Alexey was always ready.