“I wrote to Jeff, he hasn’t replied to me yet.” Oleg Taktarov could fight Jeff Monson – what’s going on

The fight between Taktarov and Monson is scheduled for the TopFight league tournament. Several well-known fighters were supposed to perform simultaneously during the last tournament, but the event was canceled 36 hours before the start. Now everything is scheduled for August 4, and among the fighters, in addition to Taktarov, Fabio Maldonado and Vyacheslav Datsik are announced, but the organizers do not disclose the rules of the fights, citing additional intrigue. Oleg Taktarov spoke to and explained that for him, it might just be a big repeat.

– I hope that within the framework of the contract we will converge, I just had a shoot on the night of August 4th. From combat to shooting – this is such a story. Something will have to be moved. But I always did. Everything has always gone through one place, I can’t cross it.

I didn’t want to talk about it yet, because we haven’t approved the filming plan, we’re recording a test now, the actress called me and read the text in a female voice.

– Who can be your coach before this fight?

– Anyone can give advice, but such a person will not feel me, and all my coaches are already dead. In the past two years, two of my coaches have left. Those who really knew me. I only need psychological support, and the rest myself. I have been coaching people for 30 years. When I had a school in Los Angeles, after two weeks of training, my guys could beat those who had been training for several years. They still write to me that many people use my techniques in fights.

– Aleksey Oleinik is in Moscow now, maybe you will train together?

– If Alexey is in Moscow, then great, I will call him and ask him to come.

Who will be in your corner?

– Yes, that will be in Moscow. If Aleksey Oleinik is present, then I will call him, I feel comfortable with him. Maybe Maxim Tarasov.

– You once helped Jeff Monson restore his back?

– Yes, I showed him a set of exercises that restored his back (previously, Monson, due to health problems, could not sit and move normally, – “”).

Did you call him before you fought?

– I wrote to him, but so far there has not even been a response, I don’t even know where he is now. He has not yet replied to messenger.

– Did I understand correctly that you are not particularly interested in royalties?

It is time, yes. I said that I intended to do something big and that I had to gradually come back to it. I once had a fight with Dolph Lundgren, after which I realized I could move, I could breathe, and then I had two more fights with active fighters. And Monson, it’s not Dolph Lundgren, it’s something more serious.

What are the rules of this fight?

I don’t care about the rules. There will be boxing – usually great, there will be MMA – not bad too.

– I understand your answer, but still someone will ask you – is the fight with Alexander Emelianenko acceptable to you?

— [долгая пауза] I don’t even want to hear it now. It’s bad to hear.

When was the last time you fought with punches?

— Los Angeles in the fall.

Since your last fight in 2008, have you ever been on the verge of fighting again?

– Yes, one way or another there were no concrete proposals. Now there is an opportunity to make a world show with a famous boxer. There’s a lot of money there. I just want to feel how I move, how I carry the audience, everything else. We have to start trying. If it works, it could be here in Las Vegas or Dubai. If it works, that will be great.

Does this boxer have a Russian passport?

– Yes, he probably has, now you all know that.

Are you happy with your form now?

– Now, of course, dissatisfied.

– How many pull-ups at most?

– 36 times, if straight at most.

– When was the last time you fought?

– Day before yesterday. I am here, at home, in Sarov. Here the guys are preparing for some departmental competitions. For competitions in MMA, combat sambo, hand-to-hand combat, soldiers train in our hall in Sarov. They are my training partners.

– What is your weight now?

“I never thought of that. I think now after the festival I have put on weight a bit, I weigh 106 kg. Was just recently less than a hundred. This is after I threw a pile of rocks first into the car, then into the cart. I stepped on the scale, it turned out to be less than a hundred, but then I starved for a day and a half. Since I live alone, I cook myself three eggs and then I can eat more rice.

– Do you have cubes?

– Yes, I had, it’s just that the volume of the abdomen is difficult to remove.

– A year ago you returned to the UFC as a second to Rinat Fakhretdinov. What do you think of your return to the UFC?

– I was delighted with how everyone made me feel welcome – from the cleaner to the chef. Very hot. It was nice.

– Do you ever see anything new in tech battles?

There were some moves. I even thought: “How is that?!”. It’s a pair of new chokes, when they don’t make a triangle with the legs and choke with the hands, but a leg and an arm are involved. There are some interesting captures.

– You said that you hardly communicated with Dana White after leaving the UFC.

– No, we talked, then there was Dana White and one of the Fertitta brothers. We spoke in 2006-2009. I was then asked to talk about signing Fedor. I don’t know why I wasted this opportunity to talk to them. As a result, Fedor did not go under them and almost immediately lost. White then even wrote something about it on social media. And then I lost interest in myself at the same time.

“And then you didn’t meet again?”

– No. I often talk to UFC founders Bob Meyrowitz and Art Davey.

– The last film where you were impressed by the work of the actor?

“Wind River” is a very good work. Of ours, I liked the series “Operation Neman” – almost all the guys, actors, worked very well. And an amazing director.

.

Live broadcasts of the Mixed Martial Arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.