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MMA icon Jeff Monson to call it quits after next bout in June

Jeff Monson and Fabio Maldonado will meet in the octagon in the Russian capital of Moscow on June 28

MOSCOW, May 24. /TASS/. US-born Russian citizen and MMA star Jeff Monson told TASS on Friday that he will retire after his next bout against Brazilian fighter Fabio Maldonado in late June.

"The fight against Fabio Maldonado will be the last of my career. After that I will only hold exhibition bouts," Monson said.

Monson and Maldonado will meet in the octagon in the Russian capital of Moscow on June 28.

Maldonado, 44, boasts a professional career record of 28 wins (19 by KO, two by submission, seven by decision) and 17 defeats (eight by KO, two by submission and seven by decision). His most recent fight was against Russia’s Kirill Sidelnikov on July 1, 2022, when he lost by technical knockout.

Jeffrey William Monson, 53, dubbed "The Snowman," hails from the state of Minnesota in 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 also told a TASS correspondent that his touted rematch against Russia’s famous MMA fighter Oleg Taktarov is not on his schedule anymore.

"We wanted to have a rematch. It is obvious today that this bout will not take place," Monson said.

Monson and Taktarov fought each other in a boxing match on August 18, 2023, with the bout ending in a draw. A source on Monson’s team announced to TASS in late November 2023 that both fighters would meet for a rematch on December 15, but this time to square off under MMA rules. Monson disclosed later that the bout had been postponed indefinitely.

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

Monson announced to TASS last 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.

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