Jeff Monson Added to Upcoming M-1 Fight Card in Russia

The Russian-based M-1 Global fight promotion recently added several new fights to its upcoming fight card, which will be held on Thursday, June 21 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

American heavyweight submission fighter Jeff Monson, currently on a three-fight win streak, will fight Denis Komkin on the main card. 

Komkin is a Russian fighter based in St. Petersburg and has lost three of his last five fights, dating back to 2009. Monson should be able to utilize his skilled submission grappling background to keep Komkin under control en route to a submission win or unanimous decision.

In addition, there will be a heavyweight championship match between Guram Gugenishvili and Kenny Garner.

Gugenishvili, a submission expert, was able to lock in a guillotine choke submission to force Garner to tap during their main event M-1 fight in October 2010. Since that victory, Gugenishvili has fought just one time, while Garner remained active and picked up four straight victories. 

The main event of the fight card will be Russian heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko fighting Pedro Rizzo.

There are rumors Emelianenko plans to announce his retirement after the fight, and will focus on training Russia's next generation of sambo and MMA fighters. However, the former PRIDE heavyweight champion said nothing is confirmed.

Here is the full fight card:

• Fedor Emelianenko vs. Pedro Rizzo
• Lightweight Championship: Daniel Weichel (c) vs. Musa Khamanaev
• Heavyweight Championship: Guram Gugenishvili (c) vs. Kenny Garner
• Jeff Monson vs. Denis Komkin
• Mairbek Taisumov vs. Marat Gafurov
• Mikhail Malyutin vs. Bakhtiyar Arzumanov
• Jerome Bouisson vs. Vugar Bakhshiev
• Pavel Vitruk vs. Radoslaw Piechnik
• Akhmed Sultanov vs. Denis Goltsov