It seemed a little unusual to many longtime fight observers when Jeff Monson walked to the Octagon for his last match in the Ultimate Fighting Championship with John Lennon's "Imagine" playing over the public address system.

But his choice of ring-walk music only begins to explore what it is that makes Monson -- who fights Tim Sylvia for the UFC heavyweight title Saturday at Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif. -- different from nearly every other professional fighter alive.

Monson is an avowed anti-capitalist who espouses the political views of an anarchist. He's also vehemently opposed to the war in Iraq and once wore a T-shirt that read "Assassinate Bush."

That brought him a not-so-friendly visit from three Secret Service agents.

It wasn't his plan to hurt the president, and he never wore the shirt in a fight. But during a prefight video montage, an image of him during a training session was shown with the anti-Bush shirt, which quickly gained the attention of the Secret Service.

Monson has a masters degree in psychology and once worked as a mental health professional counseling troubled youth.

A win over Sylvia would not be the culmination of a lifelong dream as much as it would be a platform for him to express his views.

"I'm always going to be who I am," said Monson, who is riding a 16-fight winning streak.

Who he might be sometime around 9 p.m. Saturday, if he can get Sylvia to the ground, is the UFC heavyweight champion.

UFC president Dana White concedes Monson, whose losses include defeats to UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell and light heavyweight contender Forrest Griffin, faces a tough task.

At 5 feet 9 inches tall and 240 pounds, Monson is a barrel of a man. But he'll give away 11 inches and 25 pounds to the 6-8, 265-pound Sylvia.

One of Sylvia's strengths is his takedown defense, which will add to Monson's problems.

"Jeff has beaten everyone, and he's a legitimate No. 1 contender," White said. "But Tim is so big. That's going to be tough to overcome."

Tough, Monson acknowledges, but not impossible. A collegiate wrestler during his undergraduate days at Illinois, Monson is accustomed to competing against bigger men.

And if the fight happens to get to the mat, Monson's wrestling background and submission skills will turn things decidedly in his favor.

"You start a fight standing and that's where Tim wants the fight to be, so it begins in his favor," Monson said. "And he's a smart fighter and he uses his size. If it was easy (to take him down), it would have happened a lot more frequently.

"I know what I'm up against. I know what I have to do. The fight is going to come down to, basically, which of us can fight our fight."