Oleg Prudius

Oleg Prudius was born on April, 27, 1979 in Ukrainian SSR, of the USSR (now Ukraine). He grew up in the old Soviet Union with a love for sports and everything martial arts. He started at an early age competing in Sambo and Judo, which he immediately dominated and the rest of the country took notice. At just 17 years old, Oleg hulked over his peers and was recruited to play Rugby as well as American Football. As fate would have it, while competing for the Ukrainian National American Football Team, he was discovered by American college scouts, who immediately offered him college scholarships to come and play stateside. Oleg chose to play at Santa Barbara CC, where he excelled as a towering two way presence and was awarded with a berth on the WSC All Conference Team in 2000. After college, he chose to play professionally in the European Football League (EFL) in Germany where he was named MVP to the EuroBowl after helping his team win the Cup. As celebrated as he was playing football, Prudius still yearned to compete in his first love- Martial Arts. He came back to America where in a US Kickboxing Association (USKBA) match in New York City, was discovered by Spike Lee who immediately offered him a role in his production 25th Hour (2002) where Oleg made his film debut, appearing as a menacing Russian Mafia enforcer. After this appearance, the offers to act more came rolling in but Oleg felt he still had a lot to prove in the Martial Arts World. After winning the US Open Sambo World Cup in 2005, legendary wrestling promoter Jerry Jarrett took notice and immediately brought him to the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) headquarters to meet Vince McMahon. He signed a Developmental Contract Deal with the WWE on January 17, 2006 where he became known as "Vladimir Kozlov". As Kozlov, he quickly impressed with his unique size, background and skill set and quickly became a fan favorite. He dominated through the ranks of WWE, winning both solo and Tag Team Heavyweight Championships. By 2011, growing disillusioned with scripted story lines, he left WWE for Japan's Inoki Genome Federation (IGF) seeking a purer experience in mixed martial arts. In 2013, Oleg took a break from mixed martial arts to go back into the film industry. Focusing on acting and producing, Oleg partnered up with longtime Hollywood director and producer- Bernard Salzmann to form Quasar Entertainment, one of the most progressive 3-D and 5K post production companies. Oleg is now bringing his unique look and talents back to the screens as he once again is focused on acting.