Fighthype.com recently caught up with veteran MMA heavyweight Jeff "The Snowman" Monson to discuss his upcoming brawl this Saturday with another veteran of the sport, Pedro "Rock" Rizzo, at the Art of War 3. Check out what he had to say about the fight, the lessons he learned from his loss to Tim Sylvia and his desire to one day fight UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture. Plus, Monson sets the record straight regarding his recent comments about steroids.
PC: How is everything going Jeff?
JM: I'm doing good. I'm here in Dallas and I'm getting ready for the fight.
PC: What does it mean for you to fight someone with the status of a Pedro Rizzo?
JM: Pedro is one of those Hall of Famer kind of guys. He is an icon for the sport. It's a privilege to be able to fight a guy with a reputation and I'm just excited to have the opportunity to fight him.
PC: Did you get through this training camp injury free?
JM: Yeah, I got through injury free. I've been doing good that way. I feel healthy, and that is 90% of our sport.
PC: Do you feel as though you need to take this fight to the ground immediately to have any success against Rizzo?
JM: No. You know, I've been working my standup a lot. A lot of boxing. Hopefully I can make him respect my punching and that will open up the takedowns later, but you know the fight starts on the feet and I cannot take long shots because he will stuff me and then I'll be in trouble. You know I have to stand up and try and do stuff.
PC: Pedro has been around for awhile. What do you think he has left as a fighter?
JM: He's dangerous. He's one of the most dangerous guys in the game, for sure. It's one of those things where he's beat Ricco Rodriguez, Andrei Arlovski and Josh Barnett. He's a big, strong, tough guy that can kick and punch hard and I have to respect the fact that he can take me out at once. I've prepared myself and I'm fit and I just have to take the fight to him.
PC: What can the fans expect from "The Snowman" this go around?
JM: I think it will be an exciting fight because I know he's been working on his ground as well and he will be prepared. I definitely had to work a lot on my standup for a fight like this. You're going to get two guys that have improved their game and have a lot to gain by winning this fight. I think the fans can expect something exciting.
PC: Do you have a prediction for your fight?
JM: Man, it's hard to give predictionsÂ…I don't know. You never know what's going to happen in a fight. If I was a betting man, I would bet on me (laughing), but I don't know what's going to happen in this fight. If things go well, I will end up on top of him and they will end up stopping the fight somehow that way, but the longer we stay up for five full rounds, I like his chances.
PC: You were on a 16 fight winning streak and were getting your first UFC title shot against Tim Sylvia. What did you take from that fight?
JM: I was really upset about how I fought in that fight. I did learn some things. You just can't take long shots and expect to take guys down, even being a wrestler, you can't take bad shots. You have to constantly improve your game. He just fought a lot smarter than me and I realized I needed to work my standup a little more. I just needed to be more aggressive and that's the thing I took out of that fight and hopefully I will be able to apply them Saturday.
PC: Are you surprised at some of the things that Randy Couture is able to do at 44 years old?
JM: I think everyone is surprised (laughing). Three years ago, I thought, "Oh man, he lost to Liddell and he's had a great career." He's phenomenal, but he's on a different level though. He's amazing!
PC: You've fought for a couple of different organizations in your last fights. Would you rather it be like that or would you rather have an exclusive deal?
JM: My goal, you know, I would love to fight in the UFC. That's where the notoriety and the biggest fights are right now. The Art of War is one of the best organizations as far as the way I've been treated and they are promoting the heck out of this event. I think it's good for MMA. I don't know if being exclusive to one organization is always the best. I like to try different things. Especially if you have a classy organization like Art of War. They put a great card together man. They have a bunch of studs out there and some great fights lined up for Saturday. I'd like to sit back and watch them.
PC: I'm sure you plan on being successful Saturday night. Who would you like to fight next?
JM: I'd like to fight Randy Couture. I mean, it ain't going to happen right now. I would just like to fight who holds the belt. I have to take it one step at a time, but whoever has the belt, when I work my way back to the opportunity, is the guy I want to fight right now.
PC: I know you were pretty vocal on the steroid issue. Could you give me your opinion on that?
JM: I think some of it was, I don't want to say taken out of context, but you have to read the whole interview. The point I was making is, look, there's supplements out there you can get at GNC or any health food store and the federal government just don't have the time or the money to regulate these new products and the ingredients or the amount they say are in this stuff or even if these herbs and things in it is healthy for you. You might not know for years and years. To say that steroids is bad, but we'll let you have all of this other stuff that is not being regulated as well, just doesn't make any sense to me. It seems like it would make more sense if you have testosterone and you know what it is and what it does and it's prescribed by a doctor. The doctor gives you a physical and says you're healthy enough to take it and monitors you to make sure you are ok to take it like any other medication. If you have side effects, you get off and if you don't, then you're regulated and you're not thinking about getting it off of the black market. Taking steroids is a dangerous deal and I learned that in the past because I've had some injuries because of it and some side effects because I didn't know what I was doing. I was just listening to guys in the gym who didn't know what they were doing either. Nobody did. You need to go to a physician that's trained in that field and that's what I hope for one day. It should just be monitored. The same with the supplements. They should be monitored too because you don't know what you are getting. These supplements can make all these incredible claims, but we don't know what's true and not true. We don't even know if they are healthy for us. They say, "but these are legal things". I don't understand why that's legal and this other stuff, what we know exactly what it does physician-wise and safe levels to take to increase performance and not have side effects, is illegal. It doesn't make sense to me and to me it's all about money. You read these supplements that say, "Increase your strength by 400%." I mean, come on. That's bullshit. They talk about these herbs and these roots and we don't know what the hell it is as a general public; not taking somebody's word for it. They have NFL lineman that are 350 pounds and you know that's not natural. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, but in my opinion, it's really hard to be a big muscular 350 pound guy that could bench 6 or 700 pounds. I know you didn't get anything from GNC that makes you do that.
PC: Good luck Saturday night. I look forward to speaking with you after the fight. Is there anything you want to say in closing?
JM: I just would like to thank all of the fans and everyone who promotes the sport. I'm very pleased that people are starting to recognize that this is a very difficult and technically sound sport that deserves to be on the front page.
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