Jeff Monson: “I will be fighting Fedor at Bodog”

“It’s a done deal. It looks like I will be fighting Fedor March 3rd in Russia” says Jeff Monson on the phone with InsideFighting early this week.

And with those words from Jeff Monson, the rumored fight with number one ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, is officially not just a rumor anymore.

While InsideFighting has not yet been able to get an official word from Emelianenko, and while it is impossible to guarantee that even the best laid plans will ultimately go through in any case, Monson is the first party involved in this situation to go on the record and confirm his intention to participate in a Bodog Fight super fight with Emelianenko in March, and his statement goes a long way towards providing a degree of certainty that the fight will indeed happen.

While Emelianenko is set to participate on Pride’s Shockwave New Year’s Eve card in Japan, InsideFighting does not know the details of his contract beyond that. But Monson says that his status with the UFC, where just last month he fought for the heavyweight title against Tim Sylvia and where he had fights remaining on his contract, is no longer such that it would prevent him from fighting for Bodog Fight against Emelianenko.

“My manager approached Bodog about fighting Fedor. We asked the UFC if we could get out of our contract because there was an opportunity to do this. Now we are out of it” he says.

But Monson denies that his departure from the UFC is an acrimonious one, and seems optimistic about returning to challenge for championship gold with the organization again.

“The UFC can’t lose. If I win they can say ‘here’s this guy who lost to Tim Sylvia, our champion, and he just beat the number one guy in the world’.

“I mean, what were they going to do with me now? Have me fight a few more guys and work towards another title shot? This is a good opportunity for me, and if I win, it would be a quick way back to another title shot in the UFC” says Monson.

Founded by billionaire Calvin Ayre, Bodog Entertainment Group is the force behind Bodog Fight, and is presumably a well-funded one. But Monson says that money wasn’t the biggest factor in his seeking out the fight with Emelianenko.

“They offered a pretty good sum, but it’s mostly about the opportunity to fight Fedor. It’s a good opportunity for me” Monson says.

But after going 5 championship rounds before losing a decision to Tim Sylvia not a full month ago on November 18th at UFC 65, does Monson feel healthy enough to begin training again, and when will that training begin for the fight in March?

“I’m a little banged up. I’ll begin training in two weeks. I’ll get into an actual training camp after New Year’s” he says.

Source: InsideFighting.com