Third time the charm for Jeff Monson?
Nov 18, 2011 Comments
(PRESS RELEASE) -- As Jeff "The Snowman" Monson (43-12-0, 2 KOs, 27
Submissions) makes final preparations for Sunday mornings
Pay-Per-View showdown in Moscow against Fedor "The Last Emperor"
Emelianenko (31-4-0, 8 KOs, 16 Submissions), mixed-martial-arts
fans around the world are probably wondering why the tattoo
covered-Monson has pursued this particular match for more than five
years.
Well, for starters, Monson definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer; he's far from a typical MMA fighter. Jeff is an avowed anarchist who is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies). He also earned a Master's Degree in psychology.
A black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Monson was a Division I
wrestler at Oregon State University, where he was a Pac-10
champion, as well as at the University of Illinois. He later
competed on the Senior level in USA wrestling. Now fighting out of
Miami, Florida, Jeff is a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission
Wrestling World Championships gold medalist.
Sunday he takes on Emelianenko, who has lost three straight fights, in Fedor's backyard at Olympic Arena in Moscow, Russia. "Fedor is the best heavyweight of all-time," Monson said. "It's an honor for me to fight him. A win would be the highlight of my career. My trainers at American Top Team have prepared me for all possibilities."
Recognized as one of the world's all-time greatest submission grapplers, Monson's also a multiple winner at major events like NAGA, Grapplers Quest and FILA World Championships.
Jeff got his nickname, "Snowman," from Brazilian fighters after his 1999 performance at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship. He entered the tournament as a relative unknown, however, after defeating four Brazilians in a row to win his weight class, they said he was like a snowball - white, compact and he got bigger and stronger as the tournament progressed.
He left the mental health profession in 1998 to devote himself to his pro MMA career, and in 2006, Monson unsuccessfully challenged Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight crown, dropping a five-round decision. Jeff then asked to be released from his UFC contract to fight Fedor, then the reigning PRIDE heavyweight king, at Bodog Fight in March, 2007. Negotiations fell through and the showdown never materialized. On July, 2009 at Affliction III: Trilogy, Josh Barnett fell-out as Fedor's opponent and Monson was rumored to be Barnett's late replacement, but the entire card was canceled.
"This fight (versus Monson) has been talked about since my PRIDE days," Fedor noted. "I am familiar with his career. I think Jeff is a very respected and tough opponent. I am looking forward to fighting him. Each fighter is different in his own way. Jeff and I will offer an entertaining fight."
Monson, of course, is hoping that his" third time" against Fedor will be the charm.
In Sunday morning's co-feature, M-1 Challenge Lightweight Champion Jose Figueroa (10-4, 4 KOs, 5 Submissions), also fighting out of Florida, defends against German challenger Daniel Weichel (27-7, 4 KOs, 16 Submissions).
Scheduled to fight on the PPV undercard is Russian welterweight Aleksander Yakovlev (12-3, 4 KOs, 7 Submissions) vs. undefeated Spanish prospect Juan Manuel "Juanma" Suarez (8-0, 1 KO, 3 Submissions), Austrian welterweight Mairbek "Beckan" Taisumov (15-3, 8 KOs, 6 Submissions) vs. Josh Thorpe (10-6, 3 KOs), from Alabama, and Russian middleweight Arthur Guseinov (9-2, 6 KOs, 2 Submissions) vs. French veteran Xavier "Professor X" Foupa-Pokam (21-16, 11 KOs, 7 Submissions). All fights and fighters are subject to change.
For more information about the Emelianenko-Monson PPV event go to www.integratedsportsnet.com or www.M-1Global.com. Follow Integrated Sports Media on Twitter @IntegratedPPV.
M-1 Global: Founded in 1998, M-1 Global (www.M-1Global.com) has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world's next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged over 70 events worldwide including the M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge events and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States. Captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 events have boasted some of the sport's top names including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Stephan Struve and rising stars Shamil Zavurov, Guram Gugenishvili, Alexander Sarnavskiy and Vinny Magalhaes.
Integrated Sports Media: North America's leading distributor of International Pay-Per-View and Closed Circuit sports events has presented World Championship and world-class mixed martial arts shows featuring Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Bobby Lashley, Bob Sapp, Jeff Monson, and Roy Nelson. Also World Championship and world-class boxing matches featuring Erik Morales, Vitali Klitschko, Ricky Hatton, Cristian Mijares, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., Tomasz Adamek, Ivan Calderon, Rocky Martinez, Nicolai Valuev, Amir Khan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Arthur Abraham, David Haye, John Ruiz, Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr. and Ruslan Chagaev. In addition, Integrated Sports Media distributed numerous International soccer matches showcasing teams like Real Madrid,Club America of Mexico and the National Teams of Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador and the USA. For more information on upcoming Integrated Sports events visit www.integratedsportsnet.com.
Well, for starters, Monson definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer; he's far from a typical MMA fighter. Jeff is an avowed anarchist who is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (Wobblies). He also earned a Master's Degree in psychology.
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Sunday he takes on Emelianenko, who has lost three straight fights, in Fedor's backyard at Olympic Arena in Moscow, Russia. "Fedor is the best heavyweight of all-time," Monson said. "It's an honor for me to fight him. A win would be the highlight of my career. My trainers at American Top Team have prepared me for all possibilities."
"Battle of the Legends," presented by M-1 Global, is being
distributed in the United States by Integrated Sports Media for
live viewing at 7:30 AM/ET - 4:30 AM/PT on both cable and satellite
pay-per-view via iN Demand, DIRECTV, DISH Network and Avail-TVN,
for a suggested retail price of only $29.95. Check listings for
same-day replays.
Recognized as one of the world's all-time greatest submission grapplers, Monson's also a multiple winner at major events like NAGA, Grapplers Quest and FILA World Championships.
Jeff got his nickname, "Snowman," from Brazilian fighters after his 1999 performance at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Championship. He entered the tournament as a relative unknown, however, after defeating four Brazilians in a row to win his weight class, they said he was like a snowball - white, compact and he got bigger and stronger as the tournament progressed.
He left the mental health profession in 1998 to devote himself to his pro MMA career, and in 2006, Monson unsuccessfully challenged Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight crown, dropping a five-round decision. Jeff then asked to be released from his UFC contract to fight Fedor, then the reigning PRIDE heavyweight king, at Bodog Fight in March, 2007. Negotiations fell through and the showdown never materialized. On July, 2009 at Affliction III: Trilogy, Josh Barnett fell-out as Fedor's opponent and Monson was rumored to be Barnett's late replacement, but the entire card was canceled.
"This fight (versus Monson) has been talked about since my PRIDE days," Fedor noted. "I am familiar with his career. I think Jeff is a very respected and tough opponent. I am looking forward to fighting him. Each fighter is different in his own way. Jeff and I will offer an entertaining fight."
Monson, of course, is hoping that his" third time" against Fedor will be the charm.
In Sunday morning's co-feature, M-1 Challenge Lightweight Champion Jose Figueroa (10-4, 4 KOs, 5 Submissions), also fighting out of Florida, defends against German challenger Daniel Weichel (27-7, 4 KOs, 16 Submissions).
Scheduled to fight on the PPV undercard is Russian welterweight Aleksander Yakovlev (12-3, 4 KOs, 7 Submissions) vs. undefeated Spanish prospect Juan Manuel "Juanma" Suarez (8-0, 1 KO, 3 Submissions), Austrian welterweight Mairbek "Beckan" Taisumov (15-3, 8 KOs, 6 Submissions) vs. Josh Thorpe (10-6, 3 KOs), from Alabama, and Russian middleweight Arthur Guseinov (9-2, 6 KOs, 2 Submissions) vs. French veteran Xavier "Professor X" Foupa-Pokam (21-16, 11 KOs, 7 Submissions). All fights and fighters are subject to change.
For more information about the Emelianenko-Monson PPV event go to www.integratedsportsnet.com or www.M-1Global.com. Follow Integrated Sports Media on Twitter @IntegratedPPV.
M-1 Global: Founded in 1998, M-1 Global (www.M-1Global.com) has established itself in the realm of mixed martial arts (MMA) as the premiere entity for discovering and developing the world's next-generation of superstar fighters. With offices in St. Petersburg, Amsterdam, New York City, Washington DC, Los Angeles and affiliates in Kuala Lumpur, Seoul, Tokyo and Paris, the M-1 brand has staged over 70 events worldwide including the M-1 Selection and M-1 Challenge events and its co-produced Strikeforce events in the United States. Captivating the live, television and broadband audiences with its superior production values and match-ups, M-1 events have boasted some of the sport's top names including Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Aleksander Emelianenko, Gegard Mousasi, Alistair Overeem, Ben Rothwell, Melvin Manhoef, Roman Zentsov, Stephan Struve and rising stars Shamil Zavurov, Guram Gugenishvili, Alexander Sarnavskiy and Vinny Magalhaes.
Integrated Sports Media: North America's leading distributor of International Pay-Per-View and Closed Circuit sports events has presented World Championship and world-class mixed martial arts shows featuring Fedor Emelianenko, Tim Sylvia, Bobby Lashley, Bob Sapp, Jeff Monson, and Roy Nelson. Also World Championship and world-class boxing matches featuring Erik Morales, Vitali Klitschko, Ricky Hatton, Cristian Mijares, Evander Holyfield, Roy Jones, Jr., Tomasz Adamek, Ivan Calderon, Rocky Martinez, Nicolai Valuev, Amir Khan, Marco Antonio Barrera, Arthur Abraham, David Haye, John Ruiz, Wilfredo Vasquez, Jr. and Ruslan Chagaev. In addition, Integrated Sports Media distributed numerous International soccer matches showcasing teams like Real Madrid,Club America of Mexico and the National Teams of Argentina, Honduras, El Salvador and the USA. For more information on upcoming Integrated Sports events visit www.integratedsportsnet.com.
