Jeff Monson: Living the Gimmick
Posted by Alan Conceicao on April 7th, 2009
Its one thing to call one’s self an “anarchist”. How many teenagers have done that in the midst of etching Pantera or Exploited logos into the backs of their notebooks? Its almost a rite of passage for disaffected youth before going off to college and being exposed to the real world. But there are those for whom the viewpoint never changes: everyone really is out to get stop them and their dreams, and damn it, they’re angry and not going to take it anymore.
Enter then Jeff Monson. Following a pair of legal mishaps, both reprehensible and borderline comical in nature, Monson has gone out and apparently convinced himself that he is the victim and deserves a shot at Fedor. I’m fairly certain the Iraq war didn’t beat up his woman, but then again, who knows? What I do know for certain is that Monson has competed three times in the last 2 weeks, racking up all wins against a varied set of competition. While the Roy Nelson win was, as I and everyone else on the internet said a couple weeks ago, hardly decisive or even deserved, the other two victories were certainly clear Ws for the one time Division I wrestler turned submission grappler. One of them came against fringe contender Sergei Kharitonov in a fairly dominant performance, pushing Monson into contention as a borderline top ten heavyweight. Certainly he deserves to be in the conversation every bit as much as Shane Carwin or Cain Velasquez: He may have lost fights, unlike them, but he’s also fought 33 more times than Velasquez. Sure, he lost to Tim Sylvia, but who has Carwin beaten that’s better? What argurably separates Monson from either of those guys at this very moment is timing and opportunity. And so it goes for Fedor.
While he wouldn’t be Fedor’s greatest defense, he’s a perfectly sound one who brings everything to the table Fujita did except that he’s better in every arena. Mark Hunt showed an ability to force Fedor into uncomfortable positions, and he’s not remotely the grappler Monson is. Monson is, at this moment, easily ranked higher than other free agents like Fabricio Werdum or Paul Buentello, whom would be Fedor’s most likely non-Barnett opposition on July 11th. Add to that Monson’s status as Fedor’s original Bodog opponent in 2007 and you have a ready made story of redemption.
However, this is not to suggest that this is the defense we all want to see from Fedor. It is anything but. It is certainly every bit as legitimate as Nogueira/Mir in a rankings sense, however, and about as dangerous for the champion in this case as it was on paper then for the former PRIDE world heavyweight champion. Now the only question is whether or not DREAM has any interest in putting the fight together over alternative (and more popular) opposition like Overeem or Cro-Cop, as Monson seems to be making it clear that fighting in the US is increasingly less of an option.
4/8 EDIT: Someone made light of the fact that Roy Nelson is a training partner for Monson. Well, explains why the fight was so boring in March: They likely agreed to not hurt each other. Its long been suspected to be the case with Monson/Barnett that a similar deal was reached with Barnett having a fight with Pedro Rizzo a couple of weeks later.
April 7th, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Sure, he lost to Tim Sylvia, but who has Carwin beaten that’s better?
I’d say Gonzaga.
April 8th, 2009 at 12:00 am
If you’re going to compare Monson and Fujita, Monson doesn’t have Fujita’s power, and Fujita’s takedowns are slightly better (because it’s half of his arsenal, he pursues them relentlessly).
April 8th, 2009 at 8:25 am
I’d say Gonzaga.
For all of Sylvia’s failures, he’s a two time UFC heavyweight champion with wins over Arlovski, Monson, Ricco Rodriguez (when it mattered), Brandon Vera, Assuerio Silva, Gan McGee, and Mike Whitehead. Gonzaga has the win against Cro-Cop, and from that point on his successes don’t really matchup. Next best are a couple of blownup 205lbers that aren’t even as good as Whitehead or Vera in that category. Sylvia is by far the better fighter. Not even close.
If you’re going to compare Monson and Fujita, Monson doesn’t have Fujita’s power, and Fujita’s takedowns are slightly better (because it’s half of his arsenal, he pursues them relentlessly).
People crap on Monson’s takedowns, but the guy must have some sort of shot having been a Division 1 wrestler and having had won so many fights on the mat. Fujita’s great shots struggled to take down such epic submission experts as washed up cruiserweight boxer Imamu Mayfield. As a puncher, his best KOs are what, Ibrahim and James Thompson?