Jeff Monson ‘bitch slaps’ Russian promoter after being set up at shady boxing event

Jeff Monson heard a pop in his arm and knew that something had gone terribly wrong.

Trapped in a ring, surrounded by the likes of current WBO, IBF, and WBA champion Sergey Kovalev, actor Sergey Badyuk, and a host of other Russian celebrities, the former ADCC champion tapped to an arm-bar submission in a matter of 30 seconds. It was a premature end to a fight that was billed as the main event of the evening.

Monson knew he had been tricked. This was supposed to be an exhibition match – purely entertainment value because of the injury he had sustained weeks earlier – but his opponent never got the message. Based on their chillingly silent confusion following the quick ending, the Ekaterinburg crowd was never informed about the program change either.

Jeff left the ring in utter shock. For the first time in his career, he didn’t acknowledge his opponent following a loss. Instead, he had to comprehend how he had just lost a professional fight that he was never aware was happening.

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Jeff arrived at the Ekaterinburg airport in the beginning of May, where he was escorted through a private airport entrance into the VIP lounge. Liaisons were present to escort him directly to the hotel, where he met with the Titov Boxing Promotions CEO, Alexei Titov.

Despite recent back-and-forth discussions regarding Jeff’s recent bicep tear, the promoter insisted that the fighter show up to the event. Once he arrived in Ekaterinburg, negotiations would commence over whether he can compete on the show in some capacity.

“Two weeks ago, we talked,” Monson told BloodyElbow. “I told him that it feels alright but it wasn’t enough to compete. He said that he based the whole show on me and wished that I had said something before. He said that I am the main event on this card and that we had to figure out something. I said I would do an appearance, but he wanted me to fight.”

As the promoter insisted that Monson should still fight, the Snowman stood firm: “I can’t fight the guy.”

Titov, clearly desperate to keep the UFC veteran on the card, made an interesting offer that Monson thought was a fair compromise: a match for “entertainment value” with the real fight rescheduled for the next show in three months.

“When I came to Russia, I did a Master Class, we had the pre-fight press conference, interviews, weigh-ins – he said that we would meet with [my opponent] and go over what to do,” Monson explained. “We would put on something entertaining for the …

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