Jeff Monson’s journey from American MMA muscle to Russian propagandist

The one-time UFC title challenger has gone from helping children deal with trauma to a mouthpiece for Vladimir Putin's regime

On 23 May 2023, Jeff Monson - a veteran mixed martial arts fighter and former UFC title challenger - arrived at the US consulate in Istanbul and officially turned his back on the land of his birth.

I renounced my US citizenship because of the politics of this country," Monson told Russian state-owned media agency TASS after handing over his American passport at the consulate. All my thoughts and my future are connected only with Russia. Now I am no longer an American. I am only a Russian."