51-year-old Jeff Monson returned to his fighting roots on Saturday night, taking part in the Draka Boxing/MMA event in Russia. The evening’s fight was between him and Alexandr Ilyasov.
In the second round, things went downhill fast. Monson dove for Ilyasov’s leg and got soccer-kicked right in the neck.
Although Ilyasov immediately and sincerely apologized for his actions, the damage had already been done.
Although the kick didn’t seem very strong, Monson was crawling and unable to stand up.
When Monson was struggling to get up on his own, medical help was eventually called in. They had to carry him out of the ring, and because of that, the contest ended in a draw.
We hope Monson wasn’t seriously injured from the kick to the neck and made a full recovery.
Long-time MMA fans will be familiar with the name Jeff Monson. He turned professional in 1997 and quickly established himself as an ADCC world champion.
He lost to Chuck Liddell in Japan in 2000, and three years later in the UFC heavyweight division, he had a successful three-win streak before being defeated by reigning champion Tim Sylvia.
Monson has fought for a number of global promotions, including PRIDE and Cage Warriors. He has also competed against some notable rivals, such as Ricco Rodriguez, Forrest Griffin, Josh Barnett, Mark Kerr, Roy Nelson, Daniel Cormier, and Fedor Emelianenko.
In 2011, Monson partnered with M-1 Global and started competing regularly in Russia. After a few matches, he decided to give up his US citizenship to become Russian.
He returned to fighting in 2021 after a four-year break to participate in Russian sideshow boxing matches. However, he has lost both of his contests with a record of 0-2. Most recently, he was defeated by Aleksander Emelianenko in February.
Lately, Jeff has been known for his pro-Russian views, and thus he has drawn the ire of many.
