Jesse Taylor’s Most Memorable Fights Between UFC Stints

Jesse Taylor’s most memorable fight nights between UFC appearances

As told by Jesse Taylor to Tony Reid

“I have a bunch of memorable fights. The first one that comes to mind is the time I flew to Russia and the Black Sea. The only people allowed in the whole venue were Russian President Vladimir Putin and a couple of these rich Russian global men. It was like a Bloodsport type of scene. They closed off the whole thing and played it on national TV. At one point, Putin came around and shook everyone’s hands. Every foreigner on the card lost that night. The only foreigner that won was me and I was the guy who was set up to lose. It was so typical for me. I took the fight on like a week notice. I ended up winning. I beat Michail Tsarev. I was so happy about the win that when Putin came by to shake hands that I brought him in for a bro hug kind of deal. The KGB were all there with AK-47s guarding him. They said I shouldn’t have done that and that they almost shot me on the spot. That was definitely a unique experience. I got to give Putin a big hug after he watched me fight. That was a super interesting experience.

“There was also the time I fought in Panama. I was already an established fighter and it was an established fight. Well, five minutes before the fight they couldn’t find my opponent. So they found, and I fought, a 350-pound security guard. He wasn’t that good but still, it was a true last minute change of opponent. And wining that fight was how I became the Panamanian Heavyweight Champion of the World. I was down there for other reasons. I actually did this fight on a total whim. It was just a crazy time and a crazy night in my career.

“There was also the time I went to Australia and fought Kendall Grove in a nightclub in Perth, Western Australia. Neither of us had corner men. I had a random Aussie in my corner. I think I might have found Soa “The Hulk” Paliei and asked him to corner me. Kendall found some random corner man, too. We had a five round war that no-one even talks about today. That was a wild fight. That was a wild night. Those are just a few that stick out to me.”

Tony Reid

In July of 2008 Tony Reid launched an MMA inspired clothing line that he named Reid Fight Wear. He saw a need in the MMA clothing market for a more classic, clean and timeless design and less of the dated styles seen then. In the process of major life changes, Tony cashed out his 401(k), emptied his bank account and put his heart and soul into building the brand. In August 2009 Tony began writing for TapouT and MMA Worldwide Magazines. There he created Rattling the Cage, an MMA specific news site and home for all of his work. In May of 2012 Reid began writing for Ultimate MMA Magazine, launching an MMA Legends and MMA Officials Series. Also in May of the same year he started appearing regularly on ESPN 92.3 WVSL as the MMA Insider. In early August of 2012 Reid was named General Manager of UFC Fighter Tim Boetsch’s Barbarian Combat Sports in Sunbury, PA. By December 2012 Reid started contributing to Fighters Only Magazine. "The World's Leading MMA and Lifestyle Magazine" is sold in over 30 countries around the world and has the largest reach of any international magazine of its type. In May of 2013 Reid became a monthly segment host on Sirius XM Radio. Appearing the first Thursday of every month on TapouT Radio on SiriusXM (Sirius 92 XM 208) in a segment he created called "On Blast!" where he puts people in the MMA world on notice. In June of 2013 Reid began writing for the UK based MMA Uncaged Magazine. In August of 2013, Reid launched "Rattling the Cage with Tony Reid" a talk radio show he hosted on ESPN 92.3 WVSL "The Valley's Sports Leader". The show aired over 100 episodes and featured some of the biggest and brightest stars in the world of combat sports. It was one of the most successful shows in the station's history. In May of 2016 Reid became a feature writer for FloCombat. In September of the same year Reid began writing for ONE Championship, Asia’s largest global sports media property in history. Reid is happy to now join the team at MyMMANews as a contributor.

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