No Holds Barred: Jeff Monson on His Undefeated 2012

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with American Top Team MMA fighter and two-time ADCC and three-time FILA world grappling champion, Jeff Monson
(http://www.twitter.com/jeffmonson).

Jeff has just completed a whirlwind series of events, competing on three cards and in a total of five fights in MMA and grappling, in just 10 days, and winning them all. He followed up a second-round submission victory over Alexander Emelianenko on November 15 at the M-1 15th anniversary show in St. Petersburg, Russia, and another world championship on November 17 at the FILA no-gi grappling world championship in Skala, Poland, with a decision win on November 24 over Kang Dong-Gook on the ROAD FC 10 card in Busan, Korea. This meant that in 2012, Jeff Monson went undefeated in both MMA and grappling.

"The year went pretty good," he said in this interview, which was recorded by phone Wednesday night. "I got a little banged up in the last match, so that's probably going to be it for the rest of the year, till looking at M-1 coming up in February."

We discussed his incredible 12-hour layover in China after leaving Korea, during which he was treated by an ophthalmologist. We also discussed with Jeff, who turns 42 in January, his plans to drop to 205 pounds for MMA, his 2013 plans to fight in M-1 and Road FC and possibly elsewhere, his desire to compete in grappling at both the ADCC and FILA world championships next year, what grappling might do in order to become a popular spectator sport, fighting at his age, and more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2012-12-05T21_18_36-08_00 and http://archive.org/details/NoHoldsBarredJeffMonsonOnHisUndefeated2012. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher (http://landing.stitcher.com/?vurl=noholdsbarred).

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150801513&s=143441.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer by Ian Snow(http://magicpumpkinstudios.com).

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

ONE Fighting Championship (http://onefc.com). ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com(http://onefc.com).

MMA World Expo (http://www.mmaworldexpo.com). The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City February 16 and 17, 2013, for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, grappling, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, February 16, and Sunday, February 17, 2013, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City. For more information, go to (http://www.mmaworldexpo.com).

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com). Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com).

American Top Team (http://americantopteam.com). Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman http://eddiegoldman.com

I'll be listening in to this one in a bit. Monson had a great 2012. Very impressive topped off with the sub. over Aleks.

He should be fighting the winner of Garner/Guram for the M-1 belt. Hopefully that will be the fight he has in February.

Jeff said he is going down to 205 for MMA next year.

We should give Jeff some kind of special award for 2012. He had an undefeated year. His only losses in 2011 were to Fedor and Daniel Cormier. And he turns 42 next month.

He can have the Randy Couture award for tough, old, SOB. Dan Henderson won it last year and Monson can have it this year

nhbnews wrote:Jeff said he is going down to 205 for MMA next year.

We should give Jeff some kind of special award for 2012. He had an undefeated year. His only losses in 2011 were to Fedor and Daniel Cormier. And he turns 42 next month.

2012 Global-MMA "Fighter Of The Year" Award: 5-0-1 in 2012

2012 Global-MMA "Iron Man" Award: 6 Fights

2012 Global-MMA "Other Combat Sports" Achievement (World Championships?) Award:

Submission Grappling

Abu Dhabi Combat Club
2009 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships Bronze Medalist
2005 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships Gold Medalist
2001 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships Silver Medalist
2000 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships Silver Medalist
1999 ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships Gold Medalist

International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles
2012 FILA Grappling World Championships Senior No-Gi Gold Medalist
2011 FILA Grand Prix Espoir No-Gi Absolute Silver Medalist
2008 FILA Grappling World Championships Senior No-Gi Gold Medalist
2007 FILA Grappling World Championships Senior No-Gi Gold Medalist

International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation
2007 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Black Belt No-Gi Absolute Gold Medalist
2007 IBJJF World Jiu-Jitsu Championships Black Belt No-Gi Silver Medalist
2001 Pan American Championships Blue Belt Gold Medalist

USA Wrestling
FILA World Team Trials Senior No-Gi Winner (2007, 2008)
FILA World Team Trials Senior No-Gi Runner-up (2009)

On the Mat
2009 Submission Grappler of the year
2004 Submission Grappler of the Year

'2012 Global-MMA "Iron Man" Award: 6 Fights'

And five wins in three events in three different countries in 10 days.

nhbnews wrote:Jeff said he is going down to 205 for MMA next year.

We should give Jeff some kind of special award for 2012. He had an undefeated year. His only losses in 2011 were to Fedor and Daniel Cormier. And he turns 42 next month.

We are planning to have him as a nominee for GLOBAL-MMA Fighter of the Year. He had a great 2012.

Yeah, his only recent losses were to the GOAT and the SF HW champ who also beat Barnett and Big Foot recently.

I wish he was staying at HW which his career was built around. Some real solid fights for him there and he is no doubt the top contender for the Garner/Guram winner.

nhbnews wrote:'2012 Global-MMA "Iron Man" Award: 6 Fights'

And five wins in three events in three different countries in 10 days.

That is impressive.