YEKATERIBNURG, May 4. /TASS/. Titled US-born MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter Jeff Monson, who was granted the Russian citizenship last year, has said he is ready to join the ranks of the Russian army if Russia is dragged into a military conflict. He made this statement at a news conference on Wednesday in Yekaterinburg where he arrived for a duel with Ivan Shtyrkov.

Monson said that Russia is his home now and he is ready to defend it, and if a military conflict involving Russia should happen, he would be ready to join the ranks of the Russia army. However, he may not be admitted because he is too old, said the 45-year-old athlete.

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, located on the Mamayev Kurgan in the Russian city of Volgograd, was erected to commemorate the heroic feat of the Soviet soldiers in one of the bloodiest WWII battles known as the Battle of Stalingrad.