How good was Jeff Monson...?

[DesiredUserName]

Talking 'bout his prime, of course. Saw some of his fights back when; catching up with more on YouTube.

I wouldn't imagine anyone would rate him among the absolute all time greats but he did have his moments.

Wondering how he'd compare career-wise with some other (what I'll call) mid-tier guys like Nelson, Struve, Kongo, Gonzaga, Fujita, Rothwell, Browne.. etc. Who do you think his career is closest to in accomplishments?

Just tryin' to generate some discussion....

 

[SaigeVanZant]

He was good at fucking up Mark Kerr for free on Don King TV

 

[Thepaintbucket]

had a solid understanding of BJJ and good wrestling. Mediocre take downs and suspect stand up.

 

[Gambit MMA]

tough grappler which is why he was competitive for so long, and also he's been juiced to the gills for many years now.

his standup was never good but his submission game especially on top was elite. id say barnett level. a one trick pony tho.

 

[Fergelmince]

Probably more famous for this pic than his fight career

 

[Kung Fu Kowboy]

Legit grappling... decent fighter. Also. Got tattoo to the gills...

 

[GBJohn]

I think he was limited by his stature fighting at heavyweight. He took Sylvia down but could do nothing from guard because of their relative length. It takes a pretty special athlete to succeed at 5’ 9” in the division.

 

[Enigma87]

He had an intense north-south choke

 

[The Domin8or]

he is the best in fucking people for free

 

[Arqueto]

His pre USADA game was tight.

 

[Substance Abuse]

He was never good. Old guys and people who lose weren't either. Competition got better. Prime and fight mileage don't exist. Step up.

 

[bob]

he was legit back in the day. definatly a one trick pony.. but when he was young and spritely he was a handful for most HWs. had some good wins but fought long after he started to slow down and it tainted his record/standing amoungst the heavies.
sub grappling was def his shit tho. did lots of gi bjj to compliment his wrestling... i remember seeing in a blue belt comp ages ago feeling sorry for the guys in his div lol.

 

[Kenny Powerth]

Incredibly underrated ground game is what sticks out to me the most

 

[RiotWyatt]

One of the better HW grapplers but quite a bit undersized and lacked striking. He’d have a decent chance against a lot of today’s HWs IF he could get them down. That’s a big IF.

Seen him in real life at a local grappling tournament. He’s muscular but real small for a HW.

 

[Danis_champ]

Not very good I guess. Lost to the elite guys almost every time.

Looked at his record and tried to think who would be his best win. Seems not to have any elite wins. His best wins are perhaps Kharitonov and pre UFC Roy Nelson. The guy was juiced to the tits but it didn't help him much.

 

[Raise Your Fist]

Was top 5ish when he fought Sylvia but never progressed past that. Was extremely short and had bad take downs.

Was pretty good in ADCC though but he was mostly lay and pray there.

 

[svmVR2097]

Not very good I guess. Lost to the elite guys almost every time.

Looked at his record and tried to think who would be his best win. Seems not to have any elite wins. His best wins are perhaps Kharitonov and pre UFC Roy Nelson.

those wins were like 2 weeks apart from each other

 

[Egészségére!]

 

[Taric]

Quality grappler. Shitty striker.

 

[RiotWyatt]

Not very good I guess. Lost to the elite guys almost every time.

Looked at his record and tried to think who would be his best win. Seems not to have any elite wins. His best wins are perhaps Kharitonov and pre UFC Roy Nelson. The guy was juiced to the tits but it didn't help him much.

He has good wins but from a lesser generation. He was already a veteran by the early 2000s and managed to somewhat stay in the game based on his grappling skills alone.

He outgrappled a lot of the other better pure grapplers at HW and that says a lot.