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Jeffrey William Monson (; born January 18, 1971) is an American-born RussianМонсон отказался от паспорта США со словами «люди страдают из-за Америки» mixed martial artist, boxer, and submission grappler who competes primarily in the heavyweight division. A professional competitor since 1997, he has competed for the UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM, PRIDE, M-1 Global, Impact FC, World Victory Road, and Cage Warriors. In submission wrestling and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Monson is a two-time ADCC World Champion and a no-gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion.
Outside of fighting, Monson is known for his anarcho-communist political views. In 2018, Monson was elected to the city Duma of Krasnogorsk. He is additionally the host of the multi-platform political and social commentary program Monson TV on Russian state-funded RT. In February 2023, Monson began the process of renouncing his American citizenship.Монсон отказался от паспорта США со словами «люди страдают из-за Америки»
Early life Monson was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, where he also grew up for most of his childhood. He attended Timberline High School and continued on as a Division I wrestler at Oregon State University and at the University of Illinois and was a Pac-10 champion for Oregon State.Brady, Cory. (July 23, 2009) Jeff Monson: 'I'm the guy to beat Fedor' . Five Ounces of Pain. Retrieved on December 1, 2013. He also competed at the senior level at USA Wrestling events for a number of years.
Monson received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Illinois and a master's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota Duluth, where he was the assistant coach of the wrestling team.
He worked as a mental health professional for five years, both in a crisis evaluation role for Cascade Mental Health in Lewis County, Washington, as well as a child and family counselor. However, having major success in Abu Dhabi Combat Club events and at other mixed martial arts (MMA) shows, he decided to leave the mental health profession to devote himself full-time to MMA.
Martial arts background and nickname Monson is a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Champion. He is an MMA fighter and has also had three professional boxing bouts. His boxing record is two wins and one draw.
Monson is considered to be one of the world's top submission grapplers. He is a multiple event winner at NAGA, Grapplers Quest and FILA, among other submission tournaments.Sesker, Craig (November 19, 2012) Jeff Monson named TheMat.com Wrestler of the Week . TheMat.com. Retrieved on December 1, 2013. He is nicknamed "The Snowman" for his performance at the 1999 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship. The Brazilian fighters at the tournament gave him the nickname because he came in as an unknown, but beat four Brazilians in a row to win the 88–98 kilogram weight class. As he went along in the tournament and continued to beat his opponents, they said he was like a snowball (white, compact, rolling and getting bigger and stronger as the tournament went on).
Mixed martial arts career Ultimate Fighting Championship After 14 straight MMA victories, Monson was signed by the UFC.
At UFC 57, Monson submitted Branden Lee Hinkle by north–south choke in the first round. At UFC 59, he fought Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Marcio Cruz (ADCC veteran and longtime rival). Monson won by decision after three rounds. At UFC 61, Monson fought another Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt in Anthony Perosh, whom Monson defeated by TKO in the first round. This fight earned him a Knockout of the Night award.
On November 18, 2006, at UFC 65, Monson fought Tim Sylvia for the UFC Heavyweight Championship. He lost a five-round decision and would later ask to be released from his UFC contract in the hopes of facing then-PRIDE Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko at a BodogFIGHT event scheduled for March 2007. However, negotiations fell through and the match did not happen during that time.
PRIDE In the main event of PRIDE 34, on April 8, 2007, Monson defeated Kazuyuki Fujita via rear-naked choke submission at 6:37 of the opening round.Fowlkes, Ben. (April 12, 2007) Jeff Monson Victorious at PRIDE 34 . MMAjunkie. Retrieved on December 1, 2013. This was the final fight in the history of Pride Fighting Championships.
Post-PRIDE His next fight was scheduled to be against Chris Guillen on August 17, 2007, for the Global Fighting Championships' Heavyweight Championship, but the event was canceled after four of the eight scheduled bouts were removed from the card. Monson lost against Pedro Rizzo at Art of War 3, which was held on September 1, 2007. During the bout, Monson displayed a much improved level of striking, and kept the fight standing virtually the entire time.
On September 7, 2007, Monson won two matches in the FILA World Championship in Turkey, defeating France's Zoro Piere and England's Tom Blackledge by submission. Monson was awarded the 275-pound gold medal when his final opponent Ramon Diaz suffered an injury and was forced to bow out.
Monson defeated former UFC Heavyweight Champion Ricco Rodriguez in the main event of the Mixed Fighting Alliance "There Will Be Blood" event on December 13, 2008. He avenged a loss to Rodriguez from almost seven years prior.
On March 21, 2009, Monson won a controversial decision against Roy Nelson on Roy Jones Jr.'s hybrid boxing/MMA card "March Badness." He then beat Sergej Maslobojev on a Cage Wars card on March 29, 2009. He immediately went to Japan and defeated top Russian Heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov on April 5, 2009, at Dream 8, giving him three wins in two weeks.
On September 12, 2009, at Bitetti Combat MMA 4, Monson had his seven-fight win streak snapped, losing in a rematch with Pedro Rizzo by unanimous decision.
At 5150 Combat League/Xtreme Fighting League: New Years Revolution, Monson defeated John Brown by split decision on January 16, 2010.
On March 13, 2010, Monson fought in France at 100% Fight II and defeated Francisco Nonato by submission (guillotine choke) in the first round. He lost to Travis Wiuff in a split decision at XKL Evolution 2 on April 24, 2010. On May 14, 2010, he lost in Abu Dhabi to Shamil Abdurahimov by majority decision at the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship in the quarter-finals of the 2010 Openweight Grand Prix.
Monson defeated Bira Lima at Impact FC 1 in Australia on July 10, 2010, by unanimous decision.
Monson faced Jason Guida on August 21, 2010, at an event called "Fight Time 1".Skinner, Aaron (August 15, 2010) Jeff Monson returns. 8countnews.com He defeated Jason Guida at 3:04 in the second round by a guillotine choke submission.
His next fight was scheduled to be against Neil Wain at "KnuckleUp: Kings of the North," but Neil Wain pulled out of the fight due to injuries. Stepping in to replace Wain was the very man who took him out of the fight, Dave Keeley.Wain out Keeley in – Knuckleup "Kings of the North". thefightlounge.co.uk Monson defeated Keeley by submission (north–south choke) in the first round.
Monson defeated Sergey Shemetov at the inaugural Israel Fighting Championship event on November 9. After the fight, he said he wanted to drop down to the Light Heavyweight division for his next fight and his friend, Ricco Rodriguez, who later won his fight in the main event, said he wanted to fight Monson in the International Fighting Championships (IFC) at Light Heavyweight.
In 2011, Monson defeated Lee Mein on January 7 and Tony Lopez on April 1 in a five-round decision.
Monson's next fight was against Maro Perak where he won a three-round decision.Jeff Monson vs. Moise Rimbon . RankingMMA (January 18, 2011). Retrieved on December 1, 2013.
Monson said that after he fought in April and May, he hoped the UFC would want him back, but this time he would like to fight in the Light Heavyweight division.Jeff Monson wins ISKA Title, wants UFC return . libcom.org. April 24, 2011.
Monson stepped in for injured Shane del Rosario to face prospect Daniel Cormier on the June 18 Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum card in Dallas, Texas, and lost via fight via unanimous decision.Hui, Ray (May 16, 2011) Jeff Monson to Face Daniel Cormier at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum . MMA Fighting. Retrieved on December 1, 2013.
Monson defeated Paul Taylor in Birmingham, England at the Sprawl n Brawl promotion on October 9, 2011.Jeff Monson vs Paul Taylor 09–10–11 round 1, 3 mins into the fight. . YouTube. Retrieved on December 1, 2013.
Monson fought Fedor Emelianenko at M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Monson on November 20, 2011, in Moscow, Russia and lost by unanimous decision.
Monson was unbeaten in his four fights after the loss against Fedor, and in June 2012 signed a four-fight deal with the Super Fight League in India. Monson was originally announced to fight at SFL 4 on September 29 against former UFC fighter Todd Duffee but after the event was pushed back twice the SFL decided to change the structure of their shows, with weekly events replacing monthly events. Duffee and SFL agreed on his departure in September and he is currently fighting in the UFC. Following this news, the fight was canceled.
From June 2013 to April 2014, Monson would go 1–6 in seven fights, defeating Denis Komkin, and losing to notable fighters such as Alexey Oleynik, Satoshi Ishii, and Mike Hayes. After a loss to up-and-comer Chaban Ka, Monson defeated Kevin Brooks via north–south choke at Fight Time 20 on August 29, 2014.
Monson faced Dmitry Titkov on September 5, 2014, at Fight Star: Saransk vs. Penza. He lost the fight by cut TKO, after a cut opened up on Monson.
Monson then faced Mikhail Shein at Fight Star: The Battle of the Sura 2. He won the fight via rear-naked choke in the second round.
Monson faced Ivan Shtyrkov on 6 May, the promoter and him decided to do an exhibition match due to Monson having an injury that would have forced him out of a legitimate MMA match. When the match started it quickly became clear that Shtyrkov was treating it as a real fight and shortly after dropping Monson with a straight right finished him with an armbar on his injured arm.
On 12 January 2021, Monson announced his official retirement from all forms of combat sports, including both MMA and Submission Grappling.
Arnold Gracie competition incident In 2004, when facing Márcio Cruz at the Arnold Gracie IBJJF competition, Monson allegedly attacked a referee and caused a brawl following the use of a "can opener" submission. The original attack was not caught on camera, but Monson is shown being restrained by several competition staff and coaches. As a result of this brawl the "can opener" was made illegal in IBJJF competitions. Both Monson and Pe de Pano were barred from competing at the next year's event.
Politics Monson is an anarcho-communist. He presently hosts a multi-platform (TV/social media) political and social commentary program on Russian state-funded RT, called Monson TV.
In 2015, Monson sought Russian citizenship, citing that he felt "Russian in spirit." He was granted Russian citizenship in 2018 by President Vladimir Putin.