"Turn into a clown." How Jeff Monson became a deputy

Among the deputies of the Curuulty of Bashkortostan, the MMA fighter, Jeff Monson, who had moved to Russia, was the MMA fighter, who had moved to Russia, was among the deputies of the Current-Cornet, Jeff Monson. Despite the left and even anarcho-communist views, Monson got into the republican parliament from the pro-government "United Russia". IDEL. Reals introduce readers with biography and views on the policy of the former American athlete, and experts explain why the authorities of Bashkortostan and himself were needed by the deputy.

"I lost my father early, fought a lot, was in complete confrontation to the world."

Jeff William Monson was born in 1971 in St. Paul-the capital of the American state of Minnesota. When he was four years old, a stepfather of Monson, a former US army soldier, and then a prison guard, transferred to the service in Germany, and all the early childhood of the future athlete passed on an American military base near Hamburg.

“We seemed to be pulled out with the root, and we, as a rolling field, did not remain in one place for a long time. We have disappeared the sense of family, community, despite the fact that we all lived together in American territory in another country. We were temporary workers, and this did not give birth to a real friendship or strong feelings. This is the fate of the entire army kid,” Monson wrote in his book “Auto-Biography. Without bills.

After returning to America, Jeff Monson, already studying in high school, took up the struggle.

“I fought a lot, I was constantly called into the director’s office and teased in the classroom all the time. Due to the fact that I often moved, I didn’t get along with other children. Mom's relatives regretted me because I lost my father early. They pamper me, indulged in everything, and I turned into a little outcast. In an egoist who could not communicate, find a common language with others. Not at all sports and not able to be friends without friends and friends.

Jeffrey Monson at the age of seven

From his biography it is known that at fifteen he began to participate in local competitions among young wrestlers, and in high school he was already the winner of national tournaments. After the college, he entered the University of Illina and in 1994 graduated from the degree of bachelor of psychological and social sciences. Then Jeff Monson trained in the magistracy of the University of Minnesota in Dulut, received a psychologist’s diploma and worked for some time in the field of child psychology: he was engaged in adolescents from dysfunctional families and advised people with various psyche disorders. Monson combined the work with training and with performances as a fighter.

The sports biography of Jeff Monson is well known. He is two-time winner of the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship, two-time world champion in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, eight-time world champion in Grappling (a type of sports martial arts that combines the technique of all wrestling disciplines, with minimal restrictions on the use of pain and slander tricks). He was a contender for the UFC champion title (absolute fighting championship) in heavyweight.

In total, Monson in his sports career spent more than 80 battles, in which he won more than 50 victories.

In the fall of 2018, at a press conference in Ufa, Jeff Monson announced the imminent end of his sports career, adding that after that he intends to focus on teaching children.

"I am an ardent adherent of communist thought"

Jeff Monson from early youth began to define his political views as anarchist, critically referring to many aspects of life in America and the actions of the American government. He joined the trade union organization "Industrial Workers of the World" and accepted the sponsorship of AK Press, an independent publishing house specializing in radically left and anarchist literature.

In 2009, Monson, protesting against the US military operations in Iraq, wrote on the columns of the Capitol in Washington the slogans “No Powns” and “No War”, for which he was accused of vandalism, was fined $ 2,000 and sentenced to 90 days of prison.

“Each large movement in the United States, from the movement for civil rights and women's rights to the labor movement, was the result of the fact that people got up and violated the law,” the athlete explained their act to reporters. - Now these people are considered pioneers, but at that time they were criminals. When your country is waging an illegal war, you can not stay away.

Having already moved to Russia and supporting the policy of Vladimir Putin, he already said completely different words: “My position is certainly such that you can’t in any way harm and damage someone else's property. I will give an example: people go out and start to smash some cultural values, objects, harm, engage in vandalism ... It looks like a small child did not give an entertainer and he began to complain about everything, Break your toys. "

However, Monson did not renounce his left views. So, in 2013, he recorded a video in support of the Anti -Fascist, arrested in the "swamp case" by Alexei Gaskarov , then joined the Communist Party, took pictures in a T -shirt with Lenin and went to a duel under the anthem of the USSR. In 2016, he announced his desire to join the Communist Party and said: "As an ardent adherent of communist thought, I am sure that socialism is the only way to the peaceful existence of mankind."

The athlete still has tattoos in the form of Russian words “freedom” and “solidarity”, an image of a sickle and a hammer, as well as a red-black star on his chest-a symbol of anarcho-communism.

In one of the last interviews, Monson said :

- I very much respect the Russian people and appreciate the fact that this is the only country in which socialism has established. In 1917, people took power from the king and distributed among themselves. I am delighted with Russian people, and it seems to me that this is their strength and spirit.

"I hope that they will not call me"

Despite the left beliefs, Jeff Monson from the very beginning supported the foreign policy of Russia and already in 2013 stated that he was ready to change American citizenship to Russian. He said that he was close to Russian history and culture, and claimed that "Russia is not trying to invest in its army, it does not have imperial ambitions, it does not want to control the rest of the world - unlike America." What Monson thinks about this now is unknown.

The athlete actively supported Russian aggression in Ukraine. In September 2014, he entered the ring in Mordovia under the “anthem” of the self -proclaimed “DPR”. In 2016, he received the citizenship of the neighboring unrecognized republic, the “LPR”, and was awarded her medal “for the assistance of the internal affairs bodies”. In the same year, at the tournament of mixed martial arts OFS-9, the Battle of Abkhazia was awarded the title of “Honorary Citizen of the Republic of Abkhazia”.

In 2016, the Russia Today channel announced the output '' Monson's socio-political online project ''. As part of him, the American fighter had to comment on world events and tell how they are covered in different media. Video with a visitor athlete were released on Facebook and Vkontakte.

In the same year, Monson, once again admitting his love for Russia, said that he hates the French actor Gerard Depardieu , who had previously received a Russian passport, for the fact that he allegedly “does not love Russia” and only [in it] raids, so as not to pay French taxes ''.

After the start of the full -scale war of Russia with Ukraine, the athlete called the removal of Russian athletes from international competitions "unfair", saying that "politics should not interfere in sports."

As the UFA1 portal wrote, in an interview for the publication mMA.metaratings.ru Monson, speaking of mobilization in the Russian army, said:

- I hope that they will not be called [on mobilization]. I think everyone hopes that he will not be called. I want Russia to win this confrontation as quickly as possible. But, if they call me, I will go.

On the neck of Monson, the letter Z is tattered below the right ear - a symbol of the so -called "special military operation" of Russia in Ukraine.

Friendship with Khabirov

At the end of the tenths, Jeff Monson, being in Krasnogorsk, became closely with Radius Khabirov , the former head of the administration of the President of Bashkortostan, who was then the mayor of this city near Moscow.

As Kommersant wrote , “according to Khabirov, he and Jeff Monson already knew each other in the common company of the wrestlers:“ Even the ears were broken in the same places. ”Khabirov himself, among other things, was the president of the local sport club“ Zorny ”, and Monson worked there as a coach.

In 2018, Vladimir Putin granted Jeff Monson Russian citizenship, and the Khabirov team immediately invited him to run for Krasnogorsk City Duma from United Russia. Earlier, the athlete has already expressed in support of one of the functionaries of this party, the governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov .

"Jeff was part of this big story, which ended successfully for Radiy [Khabirov] and disappointment for me. In fact, he is a good guy. He is just not educated, he does not understand very well in Russian, it is easy to convince him of anything, especially if people who convince are some moral landmarks for him. I think he sincerely believes what he does ... Jeff in the head of the bush is terrible “Pal-mel” from some anarchist and communist attitudes, such cave ideas about justice . Montson Rostislav Murzagulov , the former ally of Radium Khabirov for work in Krasnogorsk and Bashkortostan, now living abroad.

Monson went to the Krasnogorsk Duma, but soon Radia Khabirov was transferred to Bashkortostan, the head of the republic, and the athlete began to move to Ufa after his patron. There, Monsson, Khabirov, immediately presented the local community of journalists, politicians and social activists.

“It seems to me that Monson is a childishly sincere person. It causes sympathy and regret that he was drawn into this unsuccessful PR performance ... It was all called a“ political battles ”, but I didn’t see“ Battle ”. There was self-party, flattering speeches and bad snakes. If Monson spoke only about the development of sports, I would not see him as a political wise. In no way, ”the Ufa journalist Stas Mikhailov responded about this event.

In Ufa, Jeff Monson took up the opening of sports schools for children. He also admitted that he wants to open an orphans in the republic and make it a "full -fledged sports school."

Now Monson continues to maintain close relations with Radius Khabirov. The athlete speaks about his patron is very warm, even with Petit, he says that he admires "his energy and actions." “I even want to correspond to some extent and imitate him,” says Monson.

Khabirov, in response, also does not skimp on warm words addressed to his protege.

“For many, he is a big athlete and a very popular fighter ... And for me, it so happened, he is also a real friend, an excellent smart guy, a big child with a good heart, in which there is a lot of sincere love for Russia and Russians,” the head of the republic wrote in 2018 about Monson.

The athlete also transported his family from Krasnogorsk to Ufa.

As follows from his biography set forth in the media, Monson was married three times. From his first marriage, he has two children - daughter Mikaella and son Joshua . In 2010, the couple divorced. In the same year, Monson married a second time, from this marriage he had a daughter Willow . This marriage did not last long-in 2012 the couple divorced, as they say, due to the fact that the wife refused to move to Russia. For the third time, the athlete married a girl from Bryansk Evgenia Kruglikova . In 2018, Monson's youngest daughter, Esania , was born in this marriage.

Jeffrey Monson with his wife Evgenia Kruglikova and daughter Yesenia

Jeff Monson’s public career in the republic slowly moved forward: in December 2022, he was elected first vice president of the Bashkortostan wrestling Federation. The time has come for a new start of his political career.

"Marker of power degradation"

In February 2023, Jeff Monson said that he was refusing American citizenship.

- My life is in Russia, my family is in Russia, my career is in Russia. I live in Ufa, and I need to do a lot here, in Bashkortostan, to open more schools. I continue to work in the Donbass, in Donetsk and Lugansk, I have schools there, I have a lot of work and plans there. So my life is in Russia, I plan to spend the rest of my life here and help citizens, especially Russian children, ” said Monson in March 2023.

He soon handed over the American passport to the US Consulate in Istanbul and received the right to be elected as a deputy in Russia.

Radiy Khabirov and Jeffrey Monson at the headquarters of "United Russia"

In the spring of 2023, the athlete registered on the primaries of United Russia to participate in the elections to the State Assembly of Bashkortostan. He won the intra -party vote, and in early June, at the party’s regional conference, he was nominated on a list to the republican parliament.

The election campaign of a former American was not particularly noticeable (as, indeed, other "United Russia"). Political technologists who supervised her probably focused on the professional activities of Monson in the field of development of children's sports, recommending that the candidate talk more about that. So he did.

“I want to be a deputy to help people, especially children, open a lot of sports schools,” Monson said in June 2023 on the air of the BST channel.

From the moment of joining the election campaign, the athlete brought pages on VKontakte: bothpersonal and public , called "Jeffrey Monson. Deputy of the VII convocation of the State Assembly - the Kurulti of the Republic of Bashkortostan." In addition to confessions in love for Russia and Bashkortostan, he tells in social networks almost exclusively about his professional plans.

On September 10, Monson expectedly became a deputy of the State Bashkortostan State Assembly from United Russia.

“This Khabirov is weird - he is bored among the Bashkirs; because he sees himself as a figure of the federal level, and then a living American turned up,” political scientist Abbas Gallyamov briefly reacted to the election of Monson.

Political strategist Andrei Potylitsyn suggests that the republican authorities simply did not know what to do with the athlete next.

- The time when in Russia the authorities lay and cherished any foreigners, especially from Western countries, especially actors, athletes and other stars, has already passed. But Comrade Monson lingered here because of his friendship with Radius Khabirov, discovered for himself in Bashkortostan the “promised land”. And now what to do with it? We decided to stick him into Kurultai: on the one hand, for the sake of exotic and PR, on the other hand, to help him more surely promote his sports projects.

Radiy Khabirov and Jeffrey Monson

Political scientist Rustem Shayahmetov says that the reasons for the Monson’s nomination to deputies are “complex” for him.

- Perhaps this is a demonstration of the forces of the republican authorities, which showed that it can drag anyone into deputies. Maybe there were other motives. I think that for Monson himself the deputy is not interesting, rather, someone in power decided to proceed. Especially in such elections that have become just a decoration.

"It is a pity that a good person and a great athlete is turned into a clown; this is just a marker of degradation of the significance of the legislative branch of power," says the economist Vsevolod Spivak about the deputies of Monson.

Jeff Monson himself is now preparing to enter the parliament (the first meeting is scheduled for October 5) and at the same time continue his education - he submitted documents to the correspondence department of the Neftekamsky branch of the University of Science and Technology in the specialty "Applied Informatics".

“I think this is a good opportunity to acquire useful and relevant skills. Now the century of technocracy, technology and the Internet rule the world,” Monson wrote in his social networks.