Headlining M-1 Challenge 31, Aleksander Emelianenko wowed his fellow Russians with a second round knockout of Tadas Rimkevicius, snapping a three-fight winning streak for “The Lithuanian Bear” and running his own record to 19-5 in the process. The performance marked Emelianenko’s second consecutive finish of an opponent and tenth in his last twelve fights (the two exceptions being losses).

Also highlighting the card, former UFC contender Jeff Monson (44-13) narrowly outpointed submission specialist Alexey Oleinik (33-9). Olenick, who owes 27 of 33 total wins to tap-outs, almost came away with the biggest triumph of his career in beating Monson but ultimately lost a Split Decision. The fight was the first for Monson, also apt on the ground, since losing to Fedor Emelianenko in November.

Though nothing has been mentioned their performances could set up a potential “super-fight” between the two under the promotion’s banner.

Bruno Carvalho also added a notch to his win column at the event, beating formerly undefeated Ramazan Esenbaev by way of Unanimous Decision.

PHOTO CREDIT – M-1

“The Last Emperor” had lost his previous three fights while competing in Strikeforce, falling to Dan Henderson, Antonio Silva, and Fabricio Werdum. Fighting for the first time in his native country in over four years, Emelianenko dismantled Monson over three rounds with jabs, punches and low kicks.

Fedor stopped the constant takedown attempts by Monson, bloodying and bruising his face. Emelianenko kept the fight standings, keeping himself from getting into the same kind of trouble as followed in fights with Silva and Werdum.

Vadim Finkelstein, co-founder of M-1, said after the fight that Fedor could return to action next month against 2008 Olympic judo champion Satoshi Ishii. Nothing has been confirmed, however.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE/M-1

“The Last Emperor” will attempt to take his first step back towards reclaiming the divisional crown on November 12 at a M-1 Global event in his native Russia with submission-grappling ace Jeff Monson standing in his way of appeasing the hometown crowd. Monson announced the fight via Twitter.

Monson recently had an eight-fight winning streak snapped by undefeated Olympic wrestler Daniel Cormier but holds an overall record of 42-12 with 26 tap-outs to show for his in-ring efforts. Among the opponents “The Snowman” has beaten are a number of notable adversaries including Roy Nelson and Sergei Kharitonov.

As impressive as Monson’s past accomplishments may be they pale in comparison to Emelianenko’s body of work who followed up an epic run in PRIDE featuring wins over Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic with another five victories after the Japanese promotion folded.  However, since scoring a TKO over Brett Rogers in November 2009, Emelianenko has fallen in three straight with the once-unimaginable stretch involving a submission loss and two strike-based stoppages.

No other bouts for the M-1 event were revealed though more are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

Also interesting, the show’s date coincides with the UFC’s debut on FOX highlighted by heavyweight champ Cain Velasquez’s live title-defense against Brazilian bomber Junior dos Santos.

Originally booked to face fellow undefeated heavyweight prospect Shane Del Rosario in Dallas at “Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum”, the former Olympic wrestler was recently left without an opponent when Del Rosario was forced to withdraw from the event due to injuries sustained in a car accident. However, rather than shelf Cormier for the immediate future too, Strikeforce has filled the opening Del Rosario’s condition created with former UFC title-contender Jeff Monson who will easily represent the American Kickboxing Academy product’s toughest test to date based on experience and in-ring accomplishment.

News of the match-up surfaced Sunday afternoon when Cormier took to Twitter to express how thrilled he was to take on someone with Monson’s reputation as a competitor.

“I’m so excited and honored to be stepping in the cage with a guy that helped to build the sport. Let’s give em show brother,” Cormier wrote on the social networking site.

Monson will enter the summer scrap with success in his last eight bouts including victories over Travis Fulton and Tony Lopez, as well as a decision over 20-3-1 Croatian Maro Perak a little over two weeks ago in his most recent outing. “The Snowman” holds an overall record of 42-11 with twenty-six submissions to his credit and wins over a number of respected adversaries including Ricco Rodriguez, Sergei Kharitonov, Kazuyuki Fujita, and Roy Nelson.

Headlined by the Strikeforce World Grand Prix pairing of Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum, Monson and Cormier are the latest additions to a slew of talented fighters set to square off at the June event already featuring bouts like J.Z. Cavalcante vs. Justin Wilcox, Josh Barnett vs. Brett Rogers, and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal vs. Ovince St. Preux.

PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

The afore-mentioned individual, as indicated by the headline, is of course Jeff Monson.

Monson’s run since a less-than memorable loss to Tim Sylvia at UFC 65 has been one of the more successful of any heavyweight not currently calling a major organization home and features notable victories over individuals like Kazuyuki Fujita, Ricco Rodriguez, Sergei Kharitonov, and Roy Nelson.

The 40-year grappler will look to continue his winning ways Friday night in the Sunshine State at Fight Time 4 against Tony Lopez, a 23-5 King of the Cage champ who has avoided the judges’ scorecards en route to victory twenty of twenty-three times.

Five Ounces of Pain recently caught up with Monson who discussed his upcoming bout with Lopez, the reason he feels he isn’t signed to the UFC/Strikeforce, the likelihood of him fighting at 205-pounds later this year, and a handful of other topics in a conversation showing that underneath his muscular, inked-up exterior is an intelligent, humorous competitor ready to make another run at a significant belt.

“I like fighting for different organizations, travelling and that kind of thing, but I mean I think as this point it would be nice to settle down with an organization and fight for them,” the 40-year old explained of his decision to remain a free agent of sorts. “I have a good relationship with the UFC and am looking to get back at some point.”

Whether or not he would return to the organization as a heavyweight or drop a division remains up for debate according to Monson, a successful collegiate wrestler who expressed confidence in an ability to cut down if the opportunity was right.

“I’m definitely looking at the possibility of competing at 205. At this point I think you have to look at your career. I’m fighting and I want to be champion, I want to be the best. Is it going to happen at heavyweight? It’s gonna be tough. These guys are, like me, pretty quick and good except they’re like forty pounds heavier,” said the 5’9” American Top Teamer.

“So light heavyweight is definitely a thing I can make given my wrestling background and cutting weight, so making the weight isn’t a problem,” he continued. “It’s just finding the right opportunity. I’m not gonna just cut to 205, fight this guy here and this guy there and this guy here – I want to get established with an organization. That would go a long ways towards securing (the drop) in my head.”

One such possible match-up for Monson is a tie-breaking affair with Ricco Rodriguez who, interestingly enough, is actually working with him some in Florida at ATT.

“It’s funny because I’m training with Ricco at 3:00 today. We definitely want to have a rubber match. He’s kind of pissed about the last one, and we’re friends but in the ring it’s kind of one those bragging rights things. We had a fairly entertaining match – I mean I didn’t like the first one – but it was quite entertaining. It would definitely be at 205 if it happens (though).”

As far as whether or not fans will see him at light heavyweight in 2011 Monson said he would take that bet if he was a betting man.

When asked about Strikeforce’s World Grand Prix, both in terms of his absence from the overall field and his impressions on the tournament as someone with first-round submission over semi-finalist Kharitonov, Monson showed great respect to his peers while also stating he felt his exclusion from group was related to something personal on the part of Strikeforce’s brass.

“I saw clips of the fights. I mean out of the eight guys who started it probably six of them could win the tournament or could have won the tournament. So it’s pretty competitive and interesting. I mean there are favorites, but who is the favorite really,” Monson asked rhetorically while picking Josh Barnett as the Grand Prix’s eventual winner.

“I mean it’s frustrating. I’m not gonna lie about it – it’s political. I could have been on the undercard of the heavyweights so there’s some kind of personality conflict with someone with the Strikeforce organization office that I didn’t know about,” Monson explained of his confusion about the situation. “It could be style, it could be personality. I really don’t know. When you’re fighting, in a way, you’re fighting for position. Maybe early on in my career I wasn’t that exciting. Yeah, okay, but I’ve won a lot of matches by submission.”

“Maybe it’s something else,” he continued. “It’s not a lack of success. It’s not American Top Team because they have good relations with organizations so I don’t know to be honest with you. It might just be someone doesn’t like me. I apologize if I’m like this but, hey, this is how I am and that’s the way it is. I lose a lot of sponsors that way, I know that,” Monson concluded with a laugh.

However, Monson was quick to turn credit back over to the remaining men in the competition.

“That being said, the eight guys are all really good. There’s no like, ‘This guy doesn’t belong.’ I’m not gonna say I should have been there instead of this guy because there was no other guy of not being worthy of being in there. So I’m frustrated on my end but as a fan I can sit back and go, ‘Yeah there’s eight really good heavyweights and I’m interested in seeing how it happens.’”

Regardless of what his future may hold in terms of employment, opponents, or weight-class, Monson’s focus is clearly on his April 1 appearance in Fort Lauderdale against Lopez who fits the bill in terms of a larger foe given the Californian’s eight-inch height advantage.

“I think my grappling is really good and he’s got a reputation on the ground too so it’s exciting. He’s a tall guy and I’ve had some difficulty with tall guys in the past too so he obviously presents a few problems, he’s a tough guy,” Monson began. “But the motivation comes from the fact I like to win, I like to compete. You have a tough guy in front of you and you have to take the fight very seriously, and I’m training really hard for it. He presents a challenge and that makes it exciting for me.”

As far as Monson’s approach to dealing with Lopez’s size, “The Snowman” cited some improved Muay Thai skills enabling him to close the distance, saying, “There’s no secret about it – I’ve gotta get in. So (I’m) working on a lot of striking to get inside. I think I have an advantage inside, working my dirty boxing, so you could see a lot of that.”

In closing the 40-11 veteran with twenty-six submission victories gave thanks to his training partners at ATT, offering gratitude for the gym being there throughout his ups and downs.

“They’ve been there for a lot of hard times so especially them.”

Appreciation for his friends, family, and La Parilla, a local restaurant, was also offered up as was encouragement for fans to drop him a line on his website and Twitter account. Interested folks can learn more about his bout at Fight Time 4, and others, by visiting the promotion’s online.

Successful in his last six scraps, Monson will look to continue those winning ways on April 1 on Fort Lauderdale, Florida as part of Fight Time 4 when he faces former King of the Cage double-divisional champ Tony Lopez who is also currently streaking in the right direction.

Lopez is 23-5 overall in his career and has had his hands raised the last four times he’s stepped into the ring. His last outing came in late February ten days after having previously fought and resulted in a third-round submission of Ultimate Fighter Season 10 alumnus Darrill Schoonover. In addition to Schoover, “Kryptonite” has also notched past finishes against UFC veterans Jason Lambert, Kyle Kingsbury, and Joey Beltran.

Next month’s fight will be the second for Monson in 2011 after tapping out Lee Mein last January. He holds a record of 40-11 with the Guillotine Choke against Mein equating to the twenty-sixth submission win of his decade-plus journey in MMA.

The evening will be a particularly memorable one for Shonie Carter though unfortunately for the wrong reasons. “Mr. International” found himself on the wrong end of a unanimous decision against local product Jeremy Knafo, who was making his professional debut, and openly questioned his future in the sport shortly after the defeat. Whether or not he will retire remains to be seen, but the possibility was certainly laid out there by Carter.

Also losing based on the judges’ scorecards to a lesser-experienced Israeli, former WEC lightweight champ and one-time challenger for the UFC’s 155-pound title Hermes Franca was outpointed by Moshe Kaitz who had been 2-2 entering the bout. The loss was Franca’s sixth in his last seven fights.

However, while Franca and Carter fell at the event, a handful of their Zuffa-stamped brethren were able to escape unscathed including Frank Trigg, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Jeff Monson, and Ricco Rodriguez.

Sokoudjou got back on the winning track against Valdas Pocevicius, a Lithuanian with more than 60 fights under his belt, after having lost back-to-back bouts by way of TKO.

Former UFC heavyweight champ Rodriguez, who faced 16-4-3 Daniel Tabera, also won via decision in what was to be his unveiling at 205 lbs. (he came in around ten pounds over). Rodriguez has now notched a victory in ten straight in-ring appearances.

Scoring a finish at the event, Monson submitted 26-year old Russian Sergey Shemetov with a Keylock a little over four minutes into the first round of their match-up, while Trigg had the night’s only knockout. “The Snowman” was later challenged by Rodriguez to a future scrap after having also stated his interest in making a divisional drop.

Meanwhile, “Twinkletoes” Trigg had the night’s only knockout, pounding Roy Neeman out less than three minutes into their catch-weight affair after dropping him to the mat with some well-places strikes.

Here is the rundown of remaining results from “IFC – Genesis”:

Roy Peretz def. Fabrice Riconneau via Submission Round 1 (Triangle Choke)
Ido Pariente def. Joshua Hewlett via Submission Round 1 (Armbar)
Vitali Karberski def. Serob Minasyan via Unanimous Decision
Thiago Meller def. Ariel Abargel via Submission Round 1 (Armbar)
Alexandro Ceconi def. Vitaly Shemetov via Submission Round 1(Triangle Choke)
Daniel Gracie def. Martin Wojcik via Submission Round 1 (Rear-Naked Choke)

Jeff Monson

The warrant for his arrest wasn’t issued until January 14, 2009 after pictures of Monson committing the crime surfaced in ESPN The Magazine.

Monson also entered an Alford plea for similar crimes committed at the Lacey Armed Services Recruitment Center, which means he didn’t admit guilt, but admitted there was enough evidence to convict him if he tried to challenge it.

It is being reported that prosecutors will be seeking a jail-term of 90 days and a $21,894 restitution fee as part of a plea deal.

“The Snowman” is scheduled for sentencing on October 1 and will remain free until then.

Monson recently made headlines as being one of the heavyweights willing to step up and fight Fedor Emelianenko in place of Josh Barnett before “Affliction Trilogy” was ultimately cancelled.

He is currently on a seven fight win streak and boasts an overall MMA record of 30-8.

Monson was a Division I wrestler out of Oregon State and a Pac-1o champion out of the University of Illinois. Known as one of the best heavyweight grapplers in the business, the hulking 5’9″, 245 pound brawler is a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu, a two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling Champion, and has won multiple submission tournaments.

Widely regarded as one of the top heavyweight mixed martial artists on the planet, “The Snowman” has a career record of 30-8. Winning his last seven consecutive bouts, he has compiled wins over the likes of highly regarded heavyweights such as Roy Nelson and Sergei Kharitnov in 2009 alone.

Monson’s agent, Jessy Evans, has been on the phone actively trying to secure a spot against Fedor Emelianenko at “Affliction Trilogy“. According to her in statements released to FiveOuncesOfPain.com, the ball’s in Affliction’s court now.

“Jeff is destined for this fight,” said Evans. “This is the fight he has always wanted. Opportunity is knocking and Jeff just open the door and said lets dance. Now it up to Tom and the Affliction guys to make their minds up to see if they want to make history.”

Where’s Monson stand on the issue? Let’s just say he’s more than ready to fill Josh Barnett’s shoes in this once in a lifetime opportunity, just waiting on that call.

“I’m the guy to beat Fedor,” boasted Monson. “He’s a great fighter. I’d definitely love to see me fight Fedor. It’s a perfect match-up. He’s the guy I’m destined to fight. I want to be the guy to beat him. I’d definitely love to be carried off afterward…. after I submit him. My goal is to be the best in the world, even if it’s for one fight.”

The report comes courtesy of the The Olympian newspaper.

First degree malicious mischief is a Class B felony with a maximum sentence of up to ten years in prison. The graffiti on the side of the building is said to have cost more than $19,000 to remove.

Currently out of state, Monson was contacted by the paper and said while he would be in contact with police he is unsure of his next step. He stated the graffiti was an act of protest against the war in Iraq and economic disparities between the rich and poor.

Monson last competed in the UFC with a late 2006 loss to then UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. Since leaving the organization, Monson has a 5-2 record outside of the Octagon with his most recent fight being a decision win over Ricco Rodriguez in December.

The possibility of Monson coming back to compete in the Octagon was first reported by Ryan Hockensmith during last week’s edition of ESPN.com’s “MMA Live.”

Hockensmith reported that Monson is expected to fight once more in Japan for the Sengoku promotion but that he has indicated he’s been involved in contract talks with the UFC.

“If Monson wins, he’ll fight once more in Sengoku in Japan,” Hockensmith said. “Then he expects to return to the UFC. He’s had a lot of conversations with them.”

According to Hockensmith, the talks between the UFC and the two-time Abu Dhabi champion have progressed to a point that even a potential opponent has been discussed, with a future bout between Monson and Cheick Kongo discussed as a possibility.

Monson, a jiu-jitsu black belt, last competed for the UFC in November of 2006 at UFC 65 where he challenged then-champion Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight title. In that fight, Monson lost a five round unanimous decision and was released per his own request soon after the fight.

Since leaving the UFC, Monson has competed seven times in promotions such as PRIDE and Art of War in addition to the aforementioned Sengoku. During that span he has gone 5-2 with notable wins over Rodriguez, Kazuyuki Fajita, Mark Kerr, and Jimmy Ambriz and losses to Josh Barnett and Pedro Rizzo.