DONETSK, November 29. /TASS/. Russia’s US-born MMA star Jeff Monson came to a mixed martial arts school in the city of Mariupol, in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), and trained the kids there in fighting skills, the Donetsk news agency reported on Wednesday.

"The athlete came to the Dmitry Donskoi mixed martial arts club. The champion held a fighting skills class for everyone there, children and adults," the agency said.

Jeffrey William Monson, 52, dubbed "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 Belgorod, Russia, on October 22, 2016, when he defeated Russian fighter Alex "Bizon" Kardo, using a chokehold.

Monson announced to TASS in September that he had been elected to a seat in the regional 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 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 strains 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.