Legend Renzo Gracie takes out his opponent in less than a minute with a crazy KO combo!
This fight between Renzo Gracie and Oleg Taktarov happened at Mars (Martial Arts Reality Superfighting) on November 22, 1996, in Birmingham, Alabama.
Renzo Gracie was 29 years old and gloves were nowhere to be seen.
The opponent was Russian Oleg Taktarov and the fight looked a lot more like a street brawl than to what you see in the UFC today. And as a street situation, it ended fast.
After a few takedown attempts, Renzo ended on his back and landed a beautiful self-defense textbook up-kick that knocked Oleg out on his feet, sending him to the mat. Oleg was on his way back up, but Renzo got there first. One single punch finished the job and Renzo was off to celebrate with his team.
A couple internet comments about this fight:
“Still one of the best finishes ever in MMA. I think I read somewhere that Oleg wasn’t prepared for that fight at all, he had just fought a couple weeks
prior to it or something. Always liked Oleg but liked Renzo more.”
“Classic ValeTudo/NHB fighting…….those guys were natural fighters, fight in the cage, fight in the ring, fight in the street! I wish had their no fear fighting
spirit, much respect.”
One of the true martial arts legends, Renzo Gracie is a Jiu Jitsu black belt from the famous Gracie family.
A fantastic coach that has produced several renowned black belts, Renzo Gracie primarily excelled as a competitor in the 1990’s winning important tournaments such as the ADCC and several MMA fights in Japan, Brazil and US. Renzo Gracie was also the main protagonist of a famous documentary about his life as a fighter named: Legacy.
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Oleg Taktarov is a retired Russian mixed martial artist and actor. He is a practitioner of Sambo and Judo and has competed in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Pride Fighting Championships.
Perhaps the most famous non-UFC fight of his MMA career is when he faced Renzo Gracie in the MARS Reality Fighting event. The anticipated ground battle never took off and he lost by KO by an up kick as he was looking for a leg submission.
