MOSCOW, November 24. /TASS/.The rematch between MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighters Jeff Monson and Oleg Taktarov will be held next month, as the two men will trade boxing gloves for MMA gloves, a source in the Monson’s team announced to TASS on Friday.

Monson and Taktarov fought each other in a boxing match on August 18, with the bout ending in a draw.

"The rematch, to be fought in MMA style, is slated for December 15," the source stated.

Aged 56, Russian fighter and international movie star Oleg Taktarov, aka "The Russian Bear," has a record of 17 wins, five defeats and two draws. Besides winning the UFC-6 (Ultimate Fighting Championship) in 1995, Taktarov appeared in numerous Hollywood movies including "Air Force One," "Predators," "Bad Boys 2," "Righteous Kill," and many others.

Jeffrey William Monson, 52, nicknamed "The Snowman," hails from the state of Minnesota, the United States. In his MMA career, Monson has fought 85 times, chalking up 60 wins. He is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Champion. His last fight was in the Russian city of Belgorod on October 22, 2016, when he defeated Alex "Bizon" Kardo of Russia, using a chokehold.

Monson announced to TASS in September that he had been elected to the parliament of the Russian Republic of Bashkortostan following Russia’s Single Voting Day elections.

The US-born MMA fighter was granted Russian citizenship in May 2018 and in September of that year he was elected to the Council of Deputies (City Council) in the Krasnogorsk District, Moscow Region, an inner suburb of the neighboring City of Moscow.

Monson is known for his love of Russia and its Soviet past. On many occasions, he has appeared in the ring to the tune of the Soviet national anthem. In 2016, he was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Abkhazia; in 2017, he became a citizen of the Lugansk People’s Republic in the Donbass Region.