Despite being inactive in MMA for 4 years, Jeff Monson has finally decided to retire from combat sports. Monson, now 49 still wanted to compete and expressed his desire for a grappling match against an opponent over 20 years his junior, Gordon Ryan.
The snowman had a very active career in MMA spanning from 1997 to 2016 in which he took part in 88 fights. Monson finishes his career with a very respectable 61-26-1 record, especially when considering he was fighting well into his 40’s.
The Russian citizen was also a 1 time world no gi champion at black belt level and was a 2 time ADCC gold medalist. At 49 a complete tendon tear coupled with the current global situation meant Monson would not be back to high level grappling tournaments any time soon.
Monson expressed his sadness on social media stating the following:
Yesterday while training I suffered a complete tendon tear that will require surgery. It’ll be a year rehabilitation to be full strength.
So the reason I’m posting this is because this is it for competition or even high-level training. I have had eleven surgeries over my career and the body has just finally had enough. It is the most difficult thing for a fighter to admit he/she can’t do it anymore. It’s part of who you are. Consequently, many fighters hang in too long and tarnish their legacies or suffer injuries. It’s very hard to admit you’re not the athlete you used to be. I’m completely blind in my left eye from a fight a few years ago but continued fighting and suffered some defeats from punches I couldn’t see. I concentrated on jujitsu and had dreams of winning the worlds in 2020 but coronavirus canceled everything. I said I’d retire five years ago but I couldn’t because I always believed I had one more big win and successful tournament in me. I feared walking away and regretting not having tried to the very last opportunity.
I look back at the many many memories- winning ADCC in 1999 for the first time, fighting some of the greats – Chuck Liddell, Fedor, Barnett, Cormier and many others, winning the worlds in jujitsu and in grappling, ADCC again… But this is a tough sport on your body and in your head. The match I think about the most is losing the UFC championship to Tim Sylvia. I have achieved a lot in grappling but I wonder how things wouid have been different if I had won this fight. I’ve played it in my mind a million times how I should’ve, could’ve, would’ve…
