Russian MMA fighter Oleg Taktarov in a chat with , he assessed the prospects of UFC heavyweights Alexander Volkov and Sergey Pavlovich and lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.
Taktarov became the owner of the UFC championship belt at the end of the UFC 6 tournament in July 1995. At the moment, the 55-year-old Taktarov plans to return to fighting and stage an exhibition bout.
Earlier it was reported that Alexander Volkov will fight Australian Ty Tuivasa at UFC 293 in Sydney in September.
– Do you plan to become his second (Volkov) at the Sydney tournament?
– Sasha has a lot of seconds, only if he calls me himself, but everything is in order with his head. During the last two fights, I was his second, we found him problems, but he himself understood them, and that’s all. Now he told a joke a minute before the fight and asked me to translate it to other coaches. One minute before the fight. He found himself now, improved his wrestling, he always had a solid ground, he had a problem with wrestling, but now everything is in order, I don’t think his difficulties will come back to him.
– What do you think of the revenge of Makhachev and Oliveira?
I don’t see any plot. There is an intrigue with Volkanovski. Especially in the fifth round. Oliveira morally lost. Only if the rematch is in Brazil and Islam has a bad weight cut.
“What do you think of Pavlovich’s prospects?”
“They are doing everything to keep Pavlovich in the shadows. He has to fight Cyril Gan, because now it’s called freezing Sergei Pavlovich’s talent.
In the West, Pavlovich is not yet such a popular figure, and he needs to promote himself as much as possible. If I was his manager, and I won’t be his manager, I would try to get him recognized by the public. The spectator who pays. Maybe he would have sent him on some kind of survival game, maybe he would have sent bikers to Pavlovich in a bar, he would have “spoiled” them, and everyone would have wanted to fight him. There would be funding for that.
– Khabib went to fight with a hat. Should Pavlovich fight with the beret of the Airborne Forces?
“It’s his business, if he’s allowed, then… I don’t know, there’s no need to tease the geese one more time,” Taktarov told .
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.
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
