Jeff Monson interview with Valetudo.ru
Now speaking to Valetudo.ru two-time Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling World Champion, who who hold notable MMA wins over Ricco Rodriguez, Roy Nelson, and Sergei Kharitonov, has expressed a desire the become a Russian Citizen.
Note - The excerpts below are via Google translate, and thus cannot be relied up as definitively accurate.
ValeTudo.ru: Rumor has it that you were not happy with something after the fight with Fedor? What?
Jeff Monson: I was not happy that I lost. (Laughs) I wanted to attack him. Straightforward, hard ... so the first thing I was unhappy with was myself.
VT: How long do you want to continue to figth in MMA?
JM: As long as I can. As long as I have a passion for fighting, and I am in physical condition.
VT: Do you have any contracts for the fights in the USA?
JM: No. I have now only deal with M-1.
VT: You have often been to Russia? What do you like here?
JM: Well, it's great that the audience here is very passionate. Now I have many friends here already. I feel there is very strong support. And I'm trying to come back, and I think it's good that relationship turned out. I really feel so.
VT: Why do you think the Russian public is so fond of you? And they loves you, believe me.
JM: Oh, thank you, I appreciate it very much. (Embarrassed) I do not even know. Probably because I am honest and sincere. Maybe it's because I'm always going to battle to the end, never give up, do not give up. I think it brings me to the Russian. I believe that you have the same mentality ... there is fighting spirit, you never give up. Maybe that's it.
VT: You have visited many cities in Russia conducting workshops now. What are your impressions of Russia? What do you like, not like?
JM: I don't like the traffic jams (smiles). It turned out that there are traffic jams in Sochi and St. Petersburg and Moscow. But more surprised that they are in Sochi.
I like the (pause) ... people. You know, I've heard the expression, that - "Russia is a riddle wrapped up in an enigma." It is Russia and Europe combined, and Asia - no other country in the world is sthe same. It is unique. There are people of different races, they belong together and are united into one great culture. Culture is not like the others. This is very interesting.
And another thing (starts talking enthusiastically) people here are very generous. I've got a lot of gifts piled on unfamiliar people. I was invited to the house, threw open its doors, were very welcoming to me.
VT: Is it a joke or the truth that you want to receive Russian citizenship?
JM: No, it's not a joke. I'm working on it. I am looking for an opportunity.
VT: Tell me, in your opinion, what are the main differences between the U.S. and Russia?
JM: This is of course subjective ... but ... I think that in Russia people are more stringent. Not in terms of rudeness or anything like that ... just have more difficult conditions in life. Maybe because of the weather. Maybe because of the history. You've had a lot of wars. A long history of the state. You had to fight a lot. And I think that you are more capable of something. America, it is more mild.
Russian are able to perform more complex actions, to pass more complex tests and move on. And another thing, the political stuff. America, she is trying to become an empire. We have military bases all over the world hundred pieces - one hundred and fifty. We are trying to control the world. In Russia, the army is not of this kind. It is not aimed at the world. This is also a big difference.
VT: How did you imagine the USSR?
JM: Yes, I thought about it, during my childhood. I imagined this is what it was like in the Soviet Union. But in the U.S. there was a sea of ??propaganda, of course we did not know exactly how it was in reality.
I thought you had a government that suppresses the people ... Yes, in fact, all governments are all not give full freedom of citizens. We have the same problem actually.
We were told that in the Soviet Union were all starving, people stand in line for bread, that communism is bad ...
VT: Unfortunately, sometimes your propaganda is not lying.
JM: Yes, yes. I know.
VT: Do you have some great purpose in life?
JM: I want to make a change in my life, for a possible future in which the world would be more environmentally friendly, and there was more freedom for the people. And I know I'm not the person who will change the world, but maybe I can make some progress this ... in 1917, before the Bolsheviks came to power, the people somehow became, even for a time, but do without guards over them ... they had all things in order, starting on a new all ... during the October Revolution, the Bolsheviks came and took over and never gave it. Felt that people need leaders.
VT: But do you think that people do not need leaders, the government, the police?
JM: No, of course they are not necessary. What are they doing for us?
VT: But what about the crime? Bad people?
JM: And where does the crime come from? We are in such a system ... you, me, all around ... the rich, the government, corporations control 95% of all around, and for the rest of us have to fight. What happens if you put in a box of rats and throw them food that would be enough for only a few? They will fight for it. And what we're doing. The bad guys? And if they are bad? Maybe. And can they do something that pushes their authority and the corporation.
VT: But still, there's people with a "black heart."
JM: People can protect themselves. I'm talking about something else. No one should tell people what to do. No one should control others.
VT: But different societies, different cultures, very different laws and concepts. For example in their Christian and Muslims their own, with their Buddhist. How could that be?
JM: This is religion, not people. It's still laws and prohibitions. I'm talking about the laws of civilization. Tthe American Indians don't have such leaders. There are elders. They give advice, recommendations. And you know yourself that killing, stealing, and committing other crimes is bad. You just know it. And it's part of the civilized world. You will not do evil. You will not break these rules, as it is simple human standards of morality, and you can not break them. These laws are in you.
And we need change. We do not need terrible tyrants and dictators. We can make changes. We have the power to do so. I want to be a small part of educating people on the issues.
•••With time running short, the interview took a turn.***
VT: What qualities do you value in a woman above all else?
JM: Taking care of people.
VT: What qualities do you appreciate in a man?
JM: The same quality of caring.
VT: Your best main feature?
JM: I want to believe that I have the already mentioned quality.
JM: What is your main shortcoming?
JM: Selfishness probably. Sometimes. Not material things involved. Rather, it is something private ... I will say this, with women, I am selfish.
VT: What is happiness?
JM: To see the children happy.
VT: What would you have thought the biggest misfortune?
JM: That when I leave this world, I do not have time to do things. Such as talk enough with my children. To not bring the changes in the world, of which we spoke earlier.
VT: What do you hate most?
JM: Capitalism.
VT: Your hero (from the real world)?
JM: Mikhail Bakunin.
VT: Your favorite invented hero (from anywhere, books, movies, comics, cartoons, etc)
JM: Cookie Monster.
VT: You probably saw the movie "Fight Club." There was a dialogue between two characters. And one of them asked the other, who of real people, living or living on the Earth, he would like to fight. With whom you would like to? Give me some names.
JM: (Without hesitation) Hitler. George W. Bush, honestly. (After thinking) Maybe even with Julius Caesar.
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