Former UFC heavyweight Jeff Monson returned to action on Saturday night in a Draka Boxing/MMA event in Russia. The night’s main event pitted the 51-year-old against Alexandr Ilyasov.
However, things took a turn for the worst in the second round. Monson dove for Ilyasov’s leg only to get soccer kicked to the neck.
Although Ilyasov instantly apologized sincerely for the action, the harm had already been done. The kick didn’t seem to be that hard however Monson was crawling and unable to get up.
Medical personnel were eventually called in to assist Monson to his corner when he was unable to get up on his own. The heavyweight would ultimately need to be carried out of the cage, and the contest was ruled a draw.
We can only hope that Monson didn’t suffer a significant injury from the kick to the neck and completely recovered.
Old-school MMA fans will be acquainted with the name Jeff Monson. He has been a professional since 1997 and established himself as an ADCC world champion.
In Japan in 2000, he faced Chuck Liddell and lost. And in the UFC heavyweight division in 2006, he had a fruitful three win streak that came to an end with a defeat to reigning champion Tim Sylvia.
Monson would go on to PRIDE and a number of other global promotions after that. He has also competed for Cage Warriors, Sengoku, Dream, Strikeforce, and more.
Ricco Rodriguez, Forrest Griffin, Josh Barnett, Mark Kerr, Roy Nelson, Daniel Cormier, and Fedor Emelianenko are a few of his notable rivals.
Monson would team up with M-1 Global in 2011 and start competing often in Russia. Monson made the decision to give up his US citizenship and become a Russian after several bouts.
He made his comeback to combat sports competition in 2021 to take part in Russian sideshow boxing matches after a four-year absence. He has a record of 0-2 in those contests, with his most recent defeat being against Aleksander Emelianenko in February.