The bouts were scheduled on the undercard of a boxing main event between Roy Jones Jr. and Omar Sheika.
Square Ring Promotions: March Badness was held at the Pensacola Civic Center in Pensacola, Fla., and produced by Roy Jones Jr.'s Square Ring Productions. The main card of the hybrid boxing/MMA event aired live on pay-per-view.
Monson and opponent Roy Nelson did little to impress the boxing fans in the audience, settling instead for a predominantly grappling affair.
Monson shot in early in the opening frame, but Nelson sprawled and ended up on top of his foe. "Big Country" switched to side control briefly before moving back to his feet. Nelson worked the fight to the floor once again in the round, even working to mount. Little damage was done in the position, but the points obviously earned the round for the IFL veteran.
In the second frame, Nelson scored an early takedown, then again with three minutes remaining in the round. Monson powered out of the position each time. The remainder of the round was contested in the clinch, and Monson scored with occasional soft knees up the middle.
The third round saw a more aggressive Monson, and a few crisp punches found their mark. Both fighters tired, and there was little edge in the round. Monson shot in unsuccessfully once, but appeared to do enough to have taken the third.
Nelson appeared to have done enough to have earned the win 29-28, but all three ringside judges disagreed. Monson was awarded the unanimous decision, 29-28 on all three cards.
Following the win, Monson told event emcee Rob Brown he knew the decision was close.
"This is a big win," Monson said. "Roy is a tough guy. I think it could have gone either way.
"I think the second round was the decider. I mean he threw me a couple of times, but I think I got the knees in. It was tight. It could have gone either way."
An obviously disappointed Nelson left the ring immediately.
Monson has now won four-straight contests, while Nelson has dropped two consecutive outings.
Heavyweight prospect Lashley did exactly what he was supposed to do - win - but hardly impressed any observers in the process.
Expected to steamroll late replacement Jason Guida, who stepped in on less than a week's notice to replace a suspended Ken Shamrock, Lashley instead grappled and stalled his way to a unanimous decision win.
Predictably, the former WWE star shot in immediately and repetitively. Guida defended the initial efforts by grabbing hold of the ropes, but sprawled effectively in the corner for later attacks. Lashley looked ineffective in stretches, though he never lost control of the action in the clinch. A few heavy punches found their mark for Lashley, but Guida never seemed in trouble.
A slow-paced second round yielded little action, and the final frame played out with Lashley essentially lay-and-praying from top position. Guida was actually close to finishing the fight with a deep guillotine choke, but Lashley survived the scare.
In the end it was a definitive, albeit unspectacular, unanimous decision win for Lashley.
Following the bout, Lashley admitted to event emcee Brown that he was in a bit of trouble in the final frame.
"I think a hold like that (guillotine choke) gets so tight that you've got to make a decision whether you're a champion, or you're just another MMA fighter," Lashley said. "I had to dig deep because it was tight, but I held on."
Lashley also admitted he let Guida's pre-fight trash talk disrupt his own preparation.
"I didn't use all my wrestling background this time," Lashley said. "[Guida] played a lot of head games before that match that kind of pulled me out of my training regimen. So I had to just tough it out.
"I came in here with wrong frame of mind. This is a sport. We're gentlemen. We're fighters. We're not just Neanderthals. We don't go out there and run our mouth and just try to club each other. He brought me out of my match a little bit, but I was fortunate enough to stay strong in the mind, listen to my corner, and prevail."
Lashley also vowed to improve in his next performance.
"Back to the training board," Lashley said. "We're going to go back, we're going to train, and we're going to pick up some of the parts. We're going to look at this tape and look at the ways we're going to finish. Back to the training camp."
Lashley remains undefeated in his first two career bouts, while Guida has now dropped four-straight contests.
A featherweight contest between American Top Team's Din Thomas and Gabriel Lemley had fans of both boxing and MMA cheering.
Lemley shot in on a few occasions, but Thomas was able to keep his distance and deliver blows. A stiff right hand wobbled Lemley, and Thomas pounced. A flurry of punches followed that was only partially effective, but a Thai clinch and a right knee up the middle dropped Lemley immediately.
There was some hesitation by the match referee before halting the contest, but Thomas waited for the proper call to be made at 4:13 of the opening round.
Following the bout, Thomas shared his excitement with emcee Brown.
"Boxing is a major part of MMA," Thomas said. "So I'm just glad to be on a boxing card and be able to utilize some of my boxing."
Thomas also briefly said he didn't mind the challenge of competing in a ring rather than a cage before offering his services in domestic abuse settlement.
"It doesn't really matter," Thomas said. "I can fight in a cage, a ring or a parking lot. I don't really care.
"Before I go I want to address on situation: the Chris Brown-Rihanna situation. It's not cool to put your hand on girls. So, Rihanna, if you need somebody to kick his ass, holler at me."
Thomas has now won two-straight bouts since dropping to 145 pounds, while Lemley has dropped two consecutive contests.
The evening kicked off with a welterweight contest between 12-year veteran Dennis Hallman and Danny Ruiz. A quick affair, Ruiz offered little for his veteran opponent.
Hallman shot in immediately, and though Ruiz defended two efforts, "Superman" eventually worked the fight to the floor from the clinch. Once on the mat, Hallman worked from Ruiz's half-guard to side control. As Ruiz looked to roll and escape Hallman instead scrambled to back position and looked to finish the fight.
A left arm slid under Ruiz's chin, and Hallman secured the hold by grabbing a Gable grip with his right hand. Ruiz resisted briefly but tapped at 1:50 of the opening frame.
Despite seeing action for the first time in 16 months, Hallman won his fourth straight contest. Ruiz drops his fourth consecutive outing.
