By Ryan G

Taktarov is my favorite fighter of all time. And you know with every sport, you want to meet your favorite athlete. But you also think "Oh, that could never happen, though." Well, damn, it did for me! Here is a direct copy and paste from what I posted on U/G.
First of all, please note that I am no frankhhh. So don't expect this great interview, especially because I didn't plan this at all. I went off of what popped into my mind about Oleg, and basically all of it had to do with his fights. Also, this is off of memory as I didn't record it or write it down. Without further adieu...

Me: Is this Mr. Taktarov?

OT: Yes, this is him.

Me: Alright. First of all, I'd like to say that you are without a doubt my favorite fighter of all time... (Oleg interrupts)

OT: Well, I didn't fight for very long.

Me: (laughs) Well, that's true. But your performance in UFC 6 was inspiring, and your fight with Tank is my favorite fight ever. And your rolling kneebar against Beneteau and elevator against Verdecia were two of the greatest moves I've seen.

OT: Thank you. With the kneebar I was excited because I work so hard for that fight. And to get that...I was very excited.

Me: Yeah, you looked very happy to get that submission. After you beat Tank, I heard you were taken to the hospital.

OT: Yes, but for a different reason... (I interrupt)

Me: Right, exhaustion... (Oleg interrupts)

OT: Yeah, and dehydration. It was kind of funny. The people holding me up in the center of the ring after the fight were trying to show off. They had the oxygen mask, but didn't have it turned on. They didn't know how to work it. So every time they put it over my mouth and nose it made it worse.

Me: How long were you there?

OT: About an hour.

Me: In your first fight with Beneteau, you did a forward roll kind of thing. Was that planned or did it just happen?

OT: It just happened.

Me: In your Pride 1 fight... (Oleg interrupts)

OT: In that, I shouldn't have fought, you know. I had just fought 10 days earlier and I wasn't ready to fight again.

Me: Your fight against [Sean] Alvares was only 10 days earlier [in Pentagon Combat]?

OT: Yeah.

Me: You were impressive in that fight. I was surprised to see you win by strikes. It showed how much your boxing has improved.

OT: Yeah, thank you.

Me: About Goodridge, what was your strategy?

OT: I went in there trying to box with him. I just had the Alvares fight and a boxing match and I felt I could beat him with my boxing skills.

Me: I see. How did the boxing match go?

OT: Good, I won in the second round.

Me: What was the result? Did you win by knockout or TKO?

OT: TKO.

Me: What happened in MARS? Did you get lazy or caught off guard or what?

OT: I just made a mistake. Pride and MARS were my only big mistakes.

Me: In your second fight with Severn, you had him in a kneebar and he looked

like he was about to tap. His face was grimacing. And then you let it go. Why'd you do that?

OT: If I had more rest in between fights, I would not have let it go. And if I knew he was about to tap, I would not have let it go. I felt like I was about to pass out, so switched to an Achilles hold.

Me: You wore a gi in UFC 5 and never wore it again. Why is that?

OT: It was a disadvantage.

Me: Well, I'll let you go now. It was great talking to you. I appreciate it a lot, thank you.

OT: No problem.

Me: Bye.

OT: Buh-bye.

Some things that surprised me were that he had a boxing match. I had no idea about that. The story about the oxygen mask working against him was pretty funny. If I were to talk to him again, I'd ask more questions about what has happened with him outside of the ring. But it was still awesome just talking to him, and I'm glad I could share it with the forum.

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