Pride Fighting Championships, continues to stay afloat in the
mixed martial arts world at the ripe old age of 41. Kharitonov
trounced fan-favorite striking powerhouse Tyrone
Spong Friday night in the main event of
Eagle FC 44 in Miami, Fla. Friday night and escaped the
skirmish with only a few scratches.

Kharitonov (32-8) absorbed powerful leg kicks and jabs early in the
first, but his veteran instincts allowed him to take “The King of
the Ring” down easily and dominate from mount position. Spong (2-1)
tried to stay on his feet in the second and did well behind the
jab, but “The Paratrooper” scored another takedown at the midway
point and immediately moved to mount. From there, Kharitonov
unloaded punches until referee Andrew Glenn had seen enough and
stopped the bout at the 2:55 mark.

After the fight, Kharitonov stated that he plans on fighting again
and prefers to fight for the Eagle FC heavyweight title down the
road.

Looking back at Rashad
Evans’ career and everything he’s accomplished inside the cage,
it’s shocking to realize it’s been nearly a full decade since he
last had his hand raised. “Suga” had lost his last five fights and
then stepped away from combat nearly four years ago. However, in
the co-main event on Friday night, Evans (20-8-1) was dominant
against Gabriel
Checco and won a lopsided unanimous decision.

Checco (12-6) started off well, landing several stinging kicks to
the leg and body, but once Evans caught a kick and slammed Checco
to the canvas, the former
Ultimate Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion
controlled the action until the end. Checco tried in vain to land
submissions – primarily leg locks – but Evans snaked out of each
and every one. Evans never had Checco in serious trouble, but the
UFC Hall of Famer did virtually whatever he wanted on the ground
against a fierce jiu-jitsu black belt. Evans won 30-27 on all three
judges’ scorecards and stated after his triumph that he plans on
fighting again.

In a bantamweight matchup of two UFC veterans, it was Ray Borg who
had to dig deep and rally en route to a unanimous decision win over
Cody
Gibson. Borg (15-5) ate a plethora of jabs and kicks throughout
the first round and it seemed like it was going to be a long night
for the Albuquerque fighter, but he stormed back into the fracas in
the second. Gibson (18-8) slowed his pace a bit and was taken down
repeatedly in rounds two and three. Borg dominated in the third and
had Gibson nearly out with an up-kick to the jaw just before the
final bell. Borg wound up winning via scores of 29-27 and 29-28
(twice).

Unbeaten welterweight prospect Ramazan
Kuramagomedov looked solid against grizzled veteran John Howard
en route to a unanimous decision win. Howard (29-18-1) was hoping
to display his jiu-jitsu prowess inside the cage, but Kuramagomedov
scored repeated takedowns and nullified everything “Doomsday”
tried. In the end, Kuramagomedov (10-0) was dominant and won easily
via tallies of 30-27 (twice) and 30-26.

Longtime veteran Anthony
Njokuani was hoping to revamp his MMA career, but he ran into a
freight train in Raimond
Magomedaliev and wound up getting stopped in the first.
Magomedaliev (9-1) came right at Njokuani with thudding kicks to
the legs and body, but once he got close enough, he easily took the
Las Vegan down. Njokuani (17-13) appeared to have suffered some
sort of injury on the second takedown and
simply turtled up while Magomedaliev unloaded punches from on
top. Referee Glenn intervened eventually, ending the
welterweight tussle at 2:49 of the frame.

Dylan
Salvador and Arman Opsanov fought two grueling rounds rife with
leg kicks and plenty of low blows from both men. Ospanov was
effective on the inside, but Salvador (3-1) went to town on his
legs with heavy kicks. Ospanov (11-5)
was hobbled at the conclusion of the second and his corner stopped
the fight just before the third was set to begin, giving
Salvador the TKO victory.

Heavyweight prospect Yorgan De
Castro made quick work of Shaun Asher,
submitting him in just 64 seconds. Asher (13-5-1) shot in for a
takedown as soon as the duel began, but De Castro (8-3) stuffed
him. When Asher pressed him up against the cage, De Castro
shifted to a guillotine choke, torqued his hips and forced the
tap.

In early preliminary action, Demarques
Jackson picked up a quick TKO victory over Miles
Hunsinger
after just 54 seconds; Shawn Bunch
won a unanimous decision over Firdavs
Khasanov; Loik
Radzhabov submitted Zach Zane

with a guillotine choke; and Majdeddine
Ayadi picked up a unanimous decision over Sitik
Muduev.