MOSCOW, September 15. /TASS/. Titled American MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) fighter Jeff Monson hopes to obtain the Russian citizenship under a simplified procedure, Igor Lebedev, a vice speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower house, told TASS on Tuesday.

Monson, 44, announced last year that he submitted documents to become a citizen of Russia and upon his visit to Moscow this June he asked Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), to help him with obtaining the Russian citizenship.

"We have sent relevant letters to the Ministry of Sports and the president of Russia," Lebedev, who is also the chairman of LDPR Supreme Council, said in an interview with TASS. "There is no reaction as of yet as only two days have literally passed."

"We have met with representatives of the presidential administration and they are in favor of this issue," Lebedev said. "I believe that the issue will get a positive response and he [Monson] will be issued it [the citizenship] under a simplified procedure."