It’s Friday evening in Chicago, and Mike Russow has just finished training with three pro boxers. “Tonight we did 12 rounds of boxing, two rounds on the bag and a couple of rounds on the pads,” says Russow.

Born in Kankakee, Mike balances time between his MMA career and his work as a Chicago police officer, where he is on duty in the patrol division. “I dress pretty much in plain clothes: I go to work in blue jeans and a T-shirt, and our job every day is to go out and try to get an arrest, whether it be drugs, guns, drinking… stuff like that.”

Fortunately, Mike’s Windy City department allows him to mix work with pleasure, so he’s able to find time for his demanding gym workouts. “They’re really supportive of me and my captain’s awesome. He lets me do whatever needs to get done.”

And Russow says it’s very satisfying to have his work buddies grab a beer and cheer him along at all his competitions. “Oh, they love it. They take off work to come and watch the fights; they’re very supportive.”

Back in the days when Mike attended college, he was very successful at football and wrestling. But there came a time when he had to choose between the two sports. “I had a scholarship to play football and wrestle at Illinois State, but they dropped the wrestling program where I played football, so I ended up going to Eastern Illinois and just wrestled there.”

Russow’s wrestling accomplishments include being an All-American in junior college, and then a three-time, division-one national qualifier, achieving two thirds and a first for high school, and a record of 116-11. Mike was also the first individual from BBCHS (Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School) to become a state champion in any sport.

Mike, what do you think separated you from the other wrestlers?

“I would say I had a good work ethic and really good coaches, and I just loved wrestling – it was something I worked at. As a heavyweight in high school, I was probably a little more active. I would shoot on you instead of tying up like a lot of the big heavyweights do.”

Of you, Jeff Monson said: “I expect Mike to be an extremely tough opponent who only lacks the exposure he deserves. He's a great wrestler and athlete, and I need to be in good fitness for the fight.”  What do you expect of Jeff Monson?

“I have a lot of respect for him. Jeff Monson and I have pretty much the same style: I’m a wrestler; he’s a good wrestler. I’m a jiu jitsu guy, but he’s obviously a world-class jiu jitsu guy; he’s been doing it a lot longer, but for me, it’s an honor to fight him and I want to showcase my skills. I probably have to throw more hands with Jeff and try to take him down. Jeff’s more a guy who tries to take you down and just hold you. He’s more controlling – he’s so big and strong.”

You spoke of standing with Jeff. You have a five-inch height advantage and you’ve won two of your MMA bouts by KO. Will you be looking to stand with Jeff?

“Yeah, I think that’s how I’m going to try to approach this one: stand with him and, like you said, use my advantage with the reach to try to get him tired in later rounds.”

Do you think it’s ironic that you won your last bout against Roman Zentsov by north/south choke – a submission that Jeff is well known for?

“That’s where I learnt it – from watching Jeff Monson on the internet. That’s the first time I’d ever seen the north/south choke.”

Seven of your victories have been by submission. Where did you pick up your BJJ skills?

“I have two coaches: Dennis Hughes from Team No Ego whom I started training with two years ago, and then Rodrigo ‘Comprido’ Medeiros – he’s a seven time BJJ world champion from Brazil. Comprido is my other coach, and I’m getting a lot better working with him.”

With your bout being on June 14, where are you at in your training cycle?

“I’ll do another week harder than this one and then start winding it down.”

Do you do a lot of weights?

“Yeah, I have a strength and conditioning coach, Dick Cook. We do it in cycles: When I don’t have a fight, we like to have fun and lift heavy weights, but right now we’re doing a lot of repetitions with not much rest, and a lot of pull-ups and light weights, but heavy value.”

What about for cardio?

“Mostly I run hard two to three times a week, and I just try to fit it in. I work too, so my week’s pretty crazy. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I get up and run before going to jiu jitsu practice, and then I have a boxing practice at night. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, I have weights with my strength coach, and then I do jiu jitsu again at night, so my week’s pretty busy.”

With Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia set for July 19, and Ben Rothwell also being on the books, are we likely to see the winner of your bout taking on the winner of Affliction Banned?

“You know, I really don’t know because my manager, Monte Cox, also manages Tim Sylvia and Ben Rothwell, and Monte doesn’t usually put his fighters against each other. He thinks I’ll probably be fighting in Japan next.”

Who are you tipping for that match?

“I personally think Fedor: He’s awesome. But Tim’s really tough too.”

How are you going to beat Jeff Monson?

“I would love to get a knockout, or I think it would go to a decision. He would be a really hard guy to submit.”

Your sponsors?

“Renegade.”

Mike, is there anything you’d like to add?

“I want to put on a great show for the fans – especially with this being our first promotion with Adrenaline. We want the fans to come back. I’ve been training really hard and what a great opportunity! I’m just honored to go against Jeff Monson. I’m really excited and I’ve never trained harder for a fight than this. It will be a true test, and Jeff has fought in every organization and against really good guys. I’m just looking to go out there and showcase my skills – show I belong with the best.”