Khalid Taha clashes with Edgar Delgado Jimenez at Oktagon 75 on September 13th but that was not always going to be his opponent in the Oktagon MMA cage. Taha appeared on Bowks Talking Bouts to discuss how he was initially supposed to fight Max Holzer before an illness popped up recently which scrapped the bout booking.
When discussing if it is a profoundly different experience fighting this new opponent now relative to the approach he would have had against Max Holzer, Khalid Taha said,
"The opponent has like almost the same fighting style like Holzer. He's also southpaw. He's also a jiu-jitsu to black belt. And yeah, I think it's going to be the same. He's going to look for the shoot, for the takedown, try to take me down, try to finish me on the ground. Exactly the same what Holzer wanted to try. Yeah, so it's like almost the same fight."
When discussing the feeling of getting a new opponent but where the same skills he worked on in the camp can still be applied to his new Oktagon MMA opposition, Taha stated,
"Yeah, definitely it is because like there were; we knew from the pull out, what was it like maybe 13 days, 12 or 13 days before the fight. 14, maybe two weeks, around two weeks. So like there's no time anymore like to change a lot, you know. So it worked well for us."
Taha now prepares to fight a man many see as the highest ranked fighter from South America and someone who was the Mexican LUX Fight League champion. When discussing his thoughts on fighting the former four-time LUX Fight League champion here and what he sees as some of Jimenez's better skills heading into this weekend, Khalid Taha quipped,
"I think he's very dangerous. Like he's very experienced fighter and like I saw from his fights, you have to be careful until the very last second, you know. So it doesn't matter how the fight goes, he never gives up. He can change the fight like in the last second and because of that like we have to be very aware. Hve to stay focused, stick to the game plan, and do our thing."
When touching on the excitement with this being his third straight MMA fight in Germany and the partisan crowd sentiment towards him, Taha quipped,
"Yeah, sure. because almost I don't know like 6, 7, 8 years before that like I couldn't fight in Germany, you know. I was like fighting all around the world and honestly it's also for me like much easier, you know [laughs]. I don't have to travel a lot, I don't have all this jet lag stuff. I don't have all the expenses as well you know. I like honestly, I like to fight in front of my crowd, my family, my fans. So yeah, it's a win-win situation, you know."
Khalid Taha and chasing Losene Keita's former Oktagon MMA strap
Khalid Taha knows that this is a key fight for the Oktagon MMA featherweight title picture in Oktagon with prior champ Losene Keita moving to the UFC. As he addressed the current landscape in Oktagon MMA's 145 pound title scene, Khalid Taha stated,
"Of course, like now Losene Keita is in the UFC, the title is vacant and it was like almost; it was almost a title contender fight, you know, between me and [Max] Holzer. It was the plan like the winner of us is going to fight Keita. Then Keita moved to the UFC and I'm sure I'm the next in line. I will fight next week. If [it's] God will, [I'll] win this fight and then I'm next in line and I will fight for the belt."
In any event, the chance to cement himself in the
"Yeah, of course. Especially it's very nice because I don't know, do you know who the champion was before Keita or was he the first Oktagon featherweight champion? I know they had the lightweight champion. Oh, I know they had the lightweight champion and the featherweight champion was Ivan Buchinger, I think. The first one, then Keita, and I think I'm going to be the third one. If I, of course, if I get the belt and it's like history. You know, like it's very nice to write that history for me and for the fans. I'm very excited to get that chance, you know."