The new promotion Top Fight will start with a high-profile show featuring Viacheslav Datsik and Fabio Maldonado on October 4 in Moscow. However, there can be several star bouts.
Jeff Monson and Oleg Taktarov were also invited to fight against each other. While the American immediately agreed, the Russian is going to negotiate the details.
In this article, we will discuss another attempt to organize a super veterans' bout.
Monson says goodbye but doesn't end his career
We don't have enough fingers and toes to count all of Jeff Monson's final bouts and retirement announcements. Apparently, the American, who has long had grave health problems (spinal and hip joint injuries and micro-concussions), can only earn money on fighting, despite being a member of the Russian parliament.
His last official victory was in 2016 in Belgorod over the ring announcer Alex Kardo. A year ago, his "final" battle against Alexander Ilyasov in Khabarovsk was considered a No Contest due to the latter's illegal kick to his downed opponent.
Monson has been offered new opponents: Alexander Emelianenko (for the third time) and Artem Tarasov. But the former is getting treatment for alcohol addiction, while the latter isn't really interesting for the general public. Taktarov turns out to be a perfect rival. Two legends, two excellent fighters of almost the same age who are still active.
15 years without fights
Unlike Monson, who constantly shows up at tournaments, Taktarov remains a mystery. In 2007 and 2008, the Russian Bear resumed his career after a six-year-long break and defeated John Marsh, who isn't the brightest crayon in the box, and another UFC pioneer Mark Kerr, using his signature kneebar.
At the same time, he won an exhibition boxing bout at the Russian "King of the Ring" show and did not participate in fights for 15 years after that. However, Taktarov kept fit, followed MMA news, and provided scathing comments to the mass media.
Meanwhile, Monson gained a foothold in Russia, having participated in over two dozen fights here, the main of which — against Fedor Emelianenko in Moscow — has changed his life. Monson felt that Russian people love and welcome him and moved to Russia. He has received citizenship and become a member of the City Duma for Krasnogorsk, although now he lives in another Russian city, Ufa.
The possible bout between Monson and Taktarov was discussed back in 2021, but the parties didn't come to an agreement. We don't know the details of the bout: whether it will be MMA or grappling and how long the rounds will last.
For fun or for real?
Many boxing and MMA organizations organized veteran fights, but they didn't spark interest or become a tendency. These bouts could be both friendly and real.
The bout between Mike Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. was disappointing because the winner wasn't announced, and the legendary fighters obviously tried not to hurt each other. Volk Han said goodbye to MMA in the same way, by fighting against Japanese legend Masakatsu Funaki. The opponents hardly landed serious punches, and the standoff ended with a draw.
The bout between 59-year-old Julio César Chávez Sr. and 42-year-old Hector Camacho Jr. was completely different. Superveteran Chávez looked more vigorous than his young opponent and beat him fiercely. During the breaks, he tried to take off his helmet, which he had to wear during the bout.
The most high-profile MMA bout between the over-50s was the third fight between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie in Bellator. The rivals treated their confrontation like in the old times and strived to win at any cost. As a result, Gracie won in the first round via TKO after kneeing his opponent to the groin, without the referee noticing.
The bout between Taktarov and Kerr was organized by the YAMMA promotion, which positioned itself as a veteran league. One of the UFC founders, Bob Meyrowitz, invited Patrick Smith, Butterbean, Ricco Rodriguez, and even Aleksei Oleinik to the debut tournament, but the show failed and wasn't continued. Perhaps, Top Fight's attempt will be more successful. After all, if veterans want to fight, they can do it in bouts rather than let glamour bloggers use their names to ego-trip.