Outside of fighting, Monson, an anarcho-communist, is known for his radical left-wing 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.[6] In February 2023, Monson began the process of renouncing his American citizenship.[5]
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.[9] 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-jitsublack 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 submissiongrapplers. He is a multiple event winner at NAGA, Grapplers Quest and FILA, among other submission tournaments.[10] He is nicknamed "The Snowman" for his performance at the 1999 Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship.[11] 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).[12]
Mixed martial arts career
Ultimate Fighting Championship
After 14 straight MMA victories, Monson was signed by the UFC.
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 ChampionFedor Emelianenko at a BodogFIGHT event scheduled for March 2007.[13] However, negotiations fell through and the match did not happen during that time.
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.[15] 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 ChampionRicco 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 HeavyweightSergei 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.
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.[17] 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.[18]
In 2011, Monson defeated Lee Mein on January 7[19] 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.[20]
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.[21]
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.[24]
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.[25]
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.[26]
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.[27]
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.[28]
On 12 January 2021, Monson announced his official retirement from all forms of combat sports, including both MMA and Submission Grappling.[29]
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.[30]
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.[6]
In 2015, Monson sought Russian citizenship, citing that he felt "Russian in spirit."[31] He was granted Russian citizenship in 2018 by President Vladimir Putin.[32]
Monson was the subject of a party political advertisement released in the run-up to the 2016 State Duma Elections.[37]
Jeff Monson and Ambassador of Zimbabwe to the Russian Federation Mike Nicholas Sango in Moscow.
In an interview, Monson stated his political views as follows: "I am an anarchist, someone who would like to do away with all class hierarchy in society and the institutions that promote this inequality."[38]
On September 11, 2016, Monson announced on Twitter that he had become a citizen of the Luhansk People's Republic.[3] He was made an honorary citizen of the Republic of Abkhazia in October 2016 for "supporting nations striving for self-determination".[4]
On September 9, 2018, Monson was elected to the city duma (local city parliament) of Krasnogorsk, a city located near Moscow. Monson won the mandate as a candidate on the list of the ruling party United Russia, which nominated him without membership in the party. To be able to carry out the mandate, Monson had to give up his American citizenship in accordance with Russian law.[39][40]
Monson has expressed explicit support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[41] In March 2022, he criticized Arnold Schwarzenegger's appeal to the Russians (in which the latter accused the Russian government of aggression and disinformation of the population), recalling the non-compliance with the agreement not to expand NATO to the East, as well as that the War in Donbass began back in 2014.[42] In the same year, he released the documentary "8 Years Before", dedicated to the citizen of the DPR and LPR who survive in terrible conditions: "I want to tell the world about it. In the US, no one knows what is really going on. They see Russia as an aggressor, not as a savior, which it really is. I want to tell the truth so that they can see the situation that is actually there. People in Donbass have been suffering for eight years, and no one knows about it. This is a crime!"[43] About 500 local residents participated in the film.[44]
In August 2023, Monson was noted in a video for the Russian college course "Fundamentals of Russian Statehood" which is mandatory for all college students in Russia as someone who embraced the "Russian world", a propaganda term for the culture and worldview of Russia. A lecture in the video claims that "Hospitality is one of the traits of the Russian national character. Foreigners are not simply delighted by our [i.e. Russian] culture — they adopt it as their own, becoming part of the Russian world." The same lecture also notes American actor Steven Seagal as another foreigner who has embraced the Russian world. The news site Meduza in an article about the course notes that both Monson and Seagal had become citizens of Russia and both have publicly supported Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. The "Fundamentals of Russian Statehood" course is intended at least in part to explain and justify the invasion.[45]
On February 16, 2023, Monson declared that he was in the process of renouncing his U.S. citizenship. "This spring, I'll only have my Russian passport," he said, "I do not agree with the American foreign policy, they keep meddling in the affairs of other countries, people are suffer[ing] because of them. Yes, I have children in the United States, but I love Russia and the Russians."[5] On May 23, 2023, Monson officially renounced his American citizenship.[51]
Monson converted to Islam on June 19, 2024, in Moscow.[52]
