The return of “Oleg the Great” is November 30, 2007 in BodogFight!Oleg “The Russian Bear” Taktarov joins the long list of MMA legends to recently come out of retirement to attempt to reclaim their glory days. In just over the past year, MMA legends Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Royce Gracie, Randy Couture, Maurice Smith, Erik Paulson, and Mark Kerr have all been victorious in MMA events after leaving the sport. Now the UFC 6 tournament champion Taktarov, will attempt to do the same.
Taktarov last fought on February 21, 1998 at the National Freesparring event in Kazakhstan, where he submitted Mick Tierney and Moti Horenstein in the same night, both via kneebar. It is not clear whether or not Kazakhstan’s most famous journalist Borat Sagdiyev (Sacha Baron Cohen) was in attendance to cover the event that night.
Taktarov will be fighting John Marsh on the BodogFIGHT “Russia vs. USA 2” card on November 30th, which will take place in Taktarov’s homeland at the Khodynka Arena in Moscow, Russia. Unbeknownst to many, BodogFIGHT has already started selling tickets for its second Pay-Per-View show live from Russia. However, due to cost-cutting measures inside the promotion, the card is not as stacked with MMA stars as it has been in the past. The card still features some interesting match-ups and Taktarov’s comeback fight alone, featured as the main event, should be worth the price of admission.
Fight Card:
-Alexander Kokoev vs. Sultan Tikhayev -Ivan Anikanov vs. Besiki Gerenava -Stanislav Shushko vs. Thalmann Sheriffs -Vladimir Zenin vs. James “Binky” Jones -Constantine Glukhov vs. Dan Evensen -Julia Berezikova vs. Jessica Aguilar -Akhmet Sultans vs. Eric “Big” Pele -Vladimir Kuchenko vs. Wagner “Zuluzinho” da Conceicao Martins -Alexander Shlemenko vs. Diego Vitosky -Andrei Semenov vs. Emyr Bussade -Oleg Taktarov vs. John Marsh