Sergei Kharitonov
On March 21, 2009, Monson won a controversial decision against Roy Nelson on Roy Jones Jr.'s hybrid boxing/MMA card "March Badness." He then beat Sergej Maslobojev on a Cage Wars card on March 29, 2009. He immediately went to Japan and defeated top Russian Heavyweight Sergei Kharitonov on April 5, 2009, at Dream 8, giving him three wins in two weeks.