The Greatness of Oleg Taktarov : The Russian Bear

Long overdue. Oleg was a great Sambo champion and big time deal in Russia, in 1993 he debuts in the MMA world

Fighting in the White Dragon Tournament that plays out over 2 days, Oleg defeats 3 men I know nothing about, 2 wins coming via guillotine and another via TKO. Oleg wins the tournament and is 3-0.

2 years later in 1995 at UFC 5 Oleg is in the bracket and one of the favored fighters. Ernie Verdicia is the first man Oleg draws, Oleg looks a bit shaky in stand up (bare knuckle'd) before getting a takedown and choke submission. Oleg is 4-0.

Next up that night is Dan Severn. In a bout that shows all the old ways of the UFC, Dan Severn is on top of Oleg, holding the fence, and kneeing Oleg in the head. A nasty ass cut opens up and the fight is stopped despite Oleg wanting to continue. Oleg is 4-1 and suffers his first defeat.

Something happened that night though, the same night Ken Shamrock was destroying the Gracie mystique, the Lions Den fighters began chatting with Oleg, and they decided to train with Oleg, Oleg relocated to Dallas Texas and trained with Ken, Guy Mezger and the rest of the Den.

Oleg enters into the UFC 6 tournament. He draws a favorite, Dave Beneteau, it is the best Oleg has ever looked, he chokes Beneteau instantly and thanks the Lions Den in his pre fight interview.

Pat Smith drops out and the only 2 alternates are Guy Mezger and Anthony macias (another fighter that trained wtih the Den), in an almost positively not on the level match Macias runs out grabs a leg and gets guillotine'd. Fight is over in 9 SECONDS AND IS FASTEST SUBMISSION IN UFC HISTORY, Zuffa just wont admit this.

In the finals Oleg is facing Tank Abbott (who was in his UFC debut), Oleg makes it past the initial Tank onslaught and manages to get the fight to the ground. Even if he is on his back, Oleg has his eyes closed for much of the 10 minutes that ensue while he is getting pot shotted and fish hooked. He is landing palm strikes to Tank. Tank and Oleg were absolutely gassed, the fight was also in high altitude. Tank is so gassed he just starts doing anything dirty he can think of, fish hooking the shit out of Oleg (made illegal after this fight), eye gouging, and at one point you can clearly hear big John yell, "stop biting Tank I will kick your ass out".

Finally after the 17 minute mark and a stand up Oleg is able to strike Tank, get him on the ground get his back, the hooks sunk in , and get the neck, Tank taps. Oleg wins the UFC 6 tournament. Oleg is 7-1 and won all 3 matches by choke.

(Side note: Tank Abbott's large enterouge was so pissed at Pat Smith for pulling out of his fight with Oleg and giving Oleg the Macias fight that they jumped Pat at the Hotel all the fighters were staying at and sent Pat to the hospital.)

At UFC 7 Oleg is set to face Ken Shamrock for the SuperFight Championship (suck on that Machida and Spida) in a good match that goes the full time limit, Ken is the clear victor but no judges are there. The bout goes 33 minutes and is the 2nd longest match in UFC history. At one point Ken gets Oleg's ankle but he will not break it, Oleg wont tap, Ken misses out on extra 15 grand for winning the bout and the friendship is strained. Oleg is 7-1-1.

Next up Oleg enters into the deepest UFC tournament of all time at the Ultimate Ultimate 95. Oleg draws Dave Benateu in a rematch, to bad for Dave nothing changes, he is heel hooked instantly and taps.

Next up in the tournament is Marco Ruas. In a fight that goes the full 18 minutes Oleg dominates it IMO. Some say it was close, not really to me. Marco was never in control and Oleg gets the decision he deserves.

Oleg is facing Dan Severn in the tournament finals in a rematch Oleg badly wanted. In one of the bloodiest battles of the early UFC Oleg and Dan go 30 minutes of wrestling and trading ground and pound and submission attempts. Honestly the fight could have gone either way IMO but I think Oleg did enough to win. The judges didnt agree wtih me and Dan Severn gets the victory. Oleg is 9-2-1.

1995 comes to a close, in that 1 year Oleg has gone 6-2-1 aginst the likes of Dan Severn (twice), Ken Shamrock, Marco Ruas, Dave Beneteau (twice) and Tank Abbott.

He starts 1996 at Pancrase Truth 5. He loses a decision to Ryushi Yanisagawa on lost points. I have not seen this fight.

Oleg then enters the World Vale Tudo tournament and submits Joe Charles via kneebar. He is facing Marco Ruas in the finals. I still dont know how this fight was scored a draw.?? Oleg was dominant and controlled the fight yet Marco got a gift Draw. Oleg won this fight, was bullshit IMO. Oleg is 10-3-2.

Next up is Renzo Gracie. The fight couldnt be going any better for Oleg, he is throwing Renzo around and gets Renzo stuck on the ground standing over him. Then BOOM. Upkick, have talked with Oleg about this fight, he never saw it coming , didnt know waht happened, and said it didnt hurt when he came to, in fact he wanted to keep fighting, they told him he was KO'd.

Oleg rebounds beating Chuck Kim and Sean Alvarez. He then signs to fight in Pride 1 and is facing Gary Goodridge. I dont want to talk about this fight. Oleg is knocked out in just under 5 minutes.

From 1998 to 2008 Oleg has gone 5-0 since the Goodridge fight. all 5 wins coming by submission, he has defeated Mick Tierney, Mori Horenstein, Aaron Salinas, John Marsh, and Mark Kerr (2008 last fight) all in the first round.

At the moment Oleg has a 17-5-2 record. Facing some of the best names in MMA when he was active in Dan Severn (twice), Marco Ruas (twice), Ken Shamrock, Renzo Gracie, Dave Beneateau (twice), Tank Abbott, Ryushi Yanisagawa, Gary Goodridge, and Mark Kerr.

One of the best grapplers around in his day, the man was a Sambo expert that could submit you in an instant, greatt guy who always had a joke to tell, has become a good actor as well.

Oleg vs Alvarez

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZETNc1OAPQ

Oleg vs Kerr

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lqqUhpywYM&feature=related love how hard he cranks that knee

and here is an interview where Oleg talks about how unfair he thought the Severn stoppage was

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfIJ_4pZIdU

Oleg, like Severn, Keith Hackney and Royce was an early favorite. I admit his stand up was shaky (though it did visibly improve over time), but I loved his toughness, composure, and his ground game. He did take a beating from Severn though. As for the draw against Ruas? What did you think was going to happen? Ruas is from Brazil and that is where they hold the fights.

ya I know Ruas and Oleg at Vale Tudo, Oleg had to knock him out. Your right Olegs stand up was always a bit shaky but he was the guy that would get tagged a little, move around the octagon and gain his compusure. Was always fun to watch

ending of Tank vs Oleg

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3859924758125491807#

yes Guy Mezger worked Olegs corner and Kens that night, went 4-0 as a corner man that ngiht, gotta admit thats impressive

Oleg vs Ken

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3859924758125491807#docid=-1573793531479345714

gotta love all the punches to the back of the head and head butts

You know what I miss, is those fucking headbutts! I used to think that was crazy cool. I learned, because of the UFC and the so few people who watched it, that it was an excellent weapon in a fight. Of course, I don't fight anymore, but that is because me so smart.

Andrew the Raider King wrote:

You know what I miss, is those fucking headbutts! I used to think that was crazy cool. I learned, because of the UFC and the so few people who watched it, that it was an excellent weapon in a fight. Of course, I don't fight anymore, but that is because me so smart.

without a doubt head butts were the shit

no fighter used them better than Ken back then, the head butt was a major part of his top game, head butted the shit out of Gracie all night long.

Remember when Mark Coleman unloaded about 14 straight head butts on Maurice Smith?

Honestly, this is one that wasn't really on my mind but I'm glad you did it. I got my Nickname in high school because of this guy and some drunk savagery.

thats awesome GDP, glad you enjoyed it

He really was impressive, wiins the UFC 6 tournament , goes 33 minutes with Ken for the title, and then gets to the Ultimate Ultimate finals, then goes and wins the Vale Tudo tournament

all in a row

I wanted you to do this 1. Oleg along with Ken Shamrock were my favorite 2 from the 90's. Good job and keep up the good work.

Oleg gets lost in when the old timers are talked about IMO. Great post! Bird is my fav poster

glad you guys enjoyed, and really great point Ohio, when people are talking about the great old timers Gracie, Shamrock, and Severn get most of the mention and Oleg kind of goes unnoticed.

THe Russian Bear was a bad mofo for sure

I was looking at Oleg's record, he had a ton of knee-bars, which is Sambo's major contribution to submission grappling IMO. It got me thinking, why does guy like Fedor, prolly the best Sambo practitioner ever, never had a sub via knee-bar or even attempted a knee-bar? I've seen all all his fights and I don't recall him ever going for a knee-bar. Weird, maybe he's saving that one for Brock. lol

I don't know much about Sambo competition but I do know that in Judo competitions leglocks of any kind are forbidden because of how easily and quickly a man can be crippled by one. Sambo could be the same way and if they aren't permitted in competition he probably doesn't work them much at all.

I know Sambo teaches leglocks but Idk if they are allowed in their competitions. I know know that in sport sambo you can't choke people but in combat sambo you can use chokes. Really confusing if you ask me. But leglocks are a stable in Sambo though

Oleg was a Sambo champion and I am not sure about the leglocks

1 thing I know for a fact is during his interview at UFC 6 he goes out of his way to say, : "Guy Mezger and Ken Shamrock train me, best in the world, teach me leg locks, ankle locks"

So I think its safe to say Oleg wasnt very well versed in them before joining up with the den

ohiovol62 wrote:

I was looking at Oleg's record, he had a ton of knee-bars, which is Sambo's major contribution to submission grappling IMO. It got me thinking, why does guy like Fedor, prolly the best Sambo practitioner ever, never had a sub via knee-bar or even attempted a knee-bar? I've seen all all his fights and I don't recall him ever going for a knee-bar. Weird, maybe he's saving that one for Brock. lol

good point and good question, Oleg did have alot of knee bars and chokes , is kind of awkward Fedor perhaps the greatest submission fighter ever as well as Sambo, hasnt had one

I remember Guy Mezger saying Fedor is the best in the world for the fact that he can submit you from anywhere at anytime

Let me say first off that I know NOTHING about joint lock martial arts. But one time I was in a book store with my GF and while she was shopping I picked up a grappling/MMA mag, saw a article about sambo that caught my eye, had all kinds of sweet ass leglocks in there and said it was sambo's main contribution to grappling but that coulda just been the author's opionion I guess.

Birdofthad wrote:

ohiovol62 wrote:

I was looking at Oleg's record, he had a ton of knee-bars, which is Sambo's major contribution to submission grappling IMO. It got me thinking, why does guy like Fedor, prolly the best Sambo practitioner ever, never had a sub via knee-bar or even attempted a knee-bar? I've seen all all his fights and I don't recall him ever going for a knee-bar. Weird, maybe he's saving that one for Brock. lol

good point and good question, Oleg did have alot of knee bars and chokes , is kind of awkward Fedor perhaps the greatest submission fighter ever as well as Sambo, hasnt had one

I remember Guy Mezger saying Fedor is the best in the world for the fact that he can submit you from anywhere at anytime

Like I said, he might be saving a devistating soviet leglock for someone someone extra special.

hahaha hell ya, ya I also remember when small joint manipulation was allowed and we had Pat Smith twisting Kens toes and shit like that going on in the octagon, was a crazy time in the NHB world

Ha! Yeah, guys used to be able to twist people's wrists and shit. I might have to watch some of my old school UFC dvds when I get home. One gross looking sub I saw on a guys resume was igor vovchanchyn subbing a guy via chin in eye socket. Tried to find it on youtube but couldn't. Shit was nuts back then

ohiovol62 wrote:

Ha! Yeah, guys used to be able to twist people's wrists and shit. I might have to watch some of my old school UFC dvds when I get home. One gross looking sub I saw on a guys resume was igor vovchanchyn subbing a guy via chin in eye socket. Tried to find it on youtube but couldn't. Shit was nuts back then

I remember that vividly

remember Joe Son taking 10 nut shuts then having Hackney tap him out by pushing Son's chin away from his throat while Son was on his back

who knows if that or the nut shots made him tap

And John McCain thinks today's MMA is brutal? lol