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MMA fighter Jeff Monson arrives in Lugansk with sports program

The US-born MMA fighter, who was granted the Russian citizenship last year, is expected to hold master classes for young athletes

© Ruslan Shamukov/TASS

MOSCOW, June 27. /TASS/. Titled US-born MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter Jeff Monson, who was granted the Russian citizenship last year, has arrived in Lugansk to start his visit to the self-proclaimed Donbass republics with a sports program, the LuganskInformCenter news agency reported Monday.

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Monson is expected to hold master classes for young athletes of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) as well as competitions between law enforcers.

From Lugansk, Monson will head to Donetsk.

Nicknamed ‘The Snowman’ and boasting a record of 84 fights (58 wins, 25 losses, 1 draw) in mixed martial arts competitions Monson was born in Olympia, the state of Washington, on January 18, 1971.

The 45-year-old fighter is the two-time winner of the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, and a No Gi Brazilian jiu-jitsu World Champion.

Among numerous tattoos on his body, Monson sports two tattoos in Russian saying ‘svoboda’ (freedom) and ‘solidarnost’ (solidarity). Tattoos of Hammer and Sickle (a symbol of former Soviet Union) a red and black star are also inked on Monson’s body. In one of Moscow tattoo salons last year, Monson made a tattoo running up the whole length of his left thigh with the image of Russia’s world-famous monument, The Motherland Calls. The monument was erected to commemorate the heroic feat of the Soviet soldiers in one of the bloodiest WWII battles known as the Battle of Stalingrad.

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