"Empty your mind.
Adapt yourself.
Be formless, like water.
You put water in a cup, it becomes the cup.
You put water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle.
Water can flow or it can crash.
Be water, my friend."
Bruce Lee
 
The greatness of a fight is directly related to the quality of the fighters involved. The more powerful the opponent, the more consecrating the victory over him. Thus, an immense expectation surrounded the fight between Renzo and Russian Oleg Taktarov, scheduled for November 1996.
 
In 1995, after a string of victories, Taktarov had become champion of the UFC 6. In his youth he had been a combat instructor for the violent agents of the KGB (the Soviet secret service); and during his career in the MMA rings, he beat living legends like Tank Abbott, Marco Ruas and Anthony Macias.
 
(To give an idea of Taktarov's relevance: in 2003 he was elected in a contest held with MMA fans as one of the 10 most popular fighters in UFC history.)
 
And as if that wasn't enough: a sambo master, a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu and judo, trained by the great Ken Shamrock since he arrived in the USA, the "Russian Bear" had never lost by submission - and submission was, precisely, Jiu-Jitsu's greatest weapon.
 
Faced with such evidence, it was not frivolous to ask: would Renzo need a change in strategy in the conduct of this combat?
 
The fight was scheduled for November 22 in Alabama as part of the MARTIAL ARTS REALITY SUPERFIGHTING event. In the comments of experts who anticipated the dispute, the opinion was unanimous that the combat would be fought on the ground for the most part, and that it would last for many rounds, as it was customary in Taktarov's disputes. It would be a grappler battle, a contest between two masters of submission, and there was no favorite.
 
But a thinker once said that plans are what we do while life happens... Expect the unexpected, that's what men have left. This sentence was never proved just as pertinent as that night in Birmingham City.
 
Due to its surprising nature, it is even difficult to describe what happened during the exactly 1 minute and 2 seconds that the fight lasted.
 
The fact is that, after circling around in the ring for a few seconds, shooting left straights and right crosses ineffectively, as well as kicks in the thigh and calf, and after two takedown attempts made by Renzo and canceled by Taktarov, the Brazilian tried a kick with his right leg.
 
The Russian intercepted the movement and, grabbing Renzo's leg, threw him to the ground. With his back in the floor, Renzo saw Taktarov approach.
 
Then, without warning, crossing a space that didn't exist in the midst of Taktarov's guard, Renzo unleashed an upward kick, hitting the "Bear" squarely in the jaw with his heel.
 
Taktarov collapsed – like a dummy without stuffing, a puppet whose strings were suddenly cut. The bear in hibernation...
 
Renzo jumped up and hit Oleg Taktarov one more time, with a violent right hook that threw the Russian's head to the ground, opening an expressive gash in his face.
 
While Renzo was already at the top of the fence celebrating his amazing victory, the blood spurted profusely on the sambo master's left cheek, who remained lying down for a long time, receiving medical attention, his eyes stupefied, before slowly getting up and walking on his own legs again.
 
(to be continued)