Interim UFC Bantamweight Champion Petr Yan named the three greatest Russian MMA fighters.
“If we really talk about the three best Russian fighters, then these are Fedor, Khabib... And the third I don't even know who... Let's take Alexander Shlemenko. Oleg Nikolaevich Taktarov - it turns out he fought and lived abroad? He did not live permanently in Russia in those years, he traveled back and forth.
"But there is such a moment. I think in my own way, I'm not saying that here he is worthy, and the other is not. I see what the person did, what he left behind. Fedor gave a lot to popularize this sport. Khabib too. Oleg Nikolaevich gave a lot of popularization. Here is Shlemenko too - for me. I myself am from Siberia. In Siberia and in Russia as a whole, many branches and halls are opening. It is worthy that a person was at such a peak in sports and to this day is in this craft, somehow promotes it, leaves such a global mark," said Yan.
Yan had his last fight on December 30 at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi, defeating Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision.
