Post by Michael Bishop on Feb 12, 2022 19:34:25 GMT -5
| Archangel War Journal |
"Love"
The biggest myth that has ever been told about me is that I am some empty, hollow opponent. When I left the army and I took to fighting, I knew it would take me across the world but I had no idea. From the rough streets of Volgograd, where it seems none would survive if you did not have steel in your bones, and a molten heart… to Poland, to Krakow, to Stockholm, to Bucharest… To Tokyo, to New York, to Las Vegas. And yet.. I was warned… many would see me as nothing more than an enemy. An invasive figure because I come from a foreign land, a mercenary who fights only from himself, yet it could not be farther from the truth. Fighting for me is a source of freedom, a source of survival, a necessity that was thrown onto my shoulders by the weight of the world…
"Love"
The biggest myth that has ever been told about me is that I am some empty, hollow opponent. When I left the army and I took to fighting, I knew it would take me across the world but I had no idea. From the rough streets of Volgograd, where it seems none would survive if you did not have steel in your bones, and a molten heart… to Poland, to Krakow, to Stockholm, to Bucharest… To Tokyo, to New York, to Las Vegas. And yet.. I was warned… many would see me as nothing more than an enemy. An invasive figure because I come from a foreign land, a mercenary who fights only from himself, yet it could not be farther from the truth. Fighting for me is a source of freedom, a source of survival, a necessity that was thrown onto my shoulders by the weight of the world…
…and you are right, Tyler. The majority of people who take to combat sports do so to escape, to so to cut their own path through a shitty world and escape shitty lives. It is the warriors path, it is the survivors path. You already recounted my life, done the research, yet you forgot the big details…. My father left, my mother worked until she was sick and as a result I spit on my hands and took to it myself. And yet… you forgot who the fuck I really am. I am a warrior, I am a soldier. Before fighting, before the cage, before the boxing ring- I joined the army as any good Russian man should if he is wishing to become baptized and prepared for the harsh reality that is our homeland.
You are right, Tyler. I am a good old fashioned tough Russian. The boy I was was beaten down into the mud of basic training, with staff sergeants screaming overhead as I crawled through hundreds of meters of barbed wire and mud. The man that crawled out learned the first true thing about war, about the world… when mortars rained down onto our heads in Syria. The horrors I saw oversea Tyler Cage make every single triumph you’ve gained over your social media based fighter career seem absolutely insignificant. You want to know what I learned on those battlefields? What I learned in the cage? What I learned after going toe to toe with the harshest fighters in Eastern Europe? You are either more vicious, more skilled, more hungry- or you are dead. You either prepare yourself for war, say your vows, and leave every single thing inside of that ring or you are dead. You either strap on your vest, and roar into the enemy’s face as you steal his soul from his eyes, or you are dead.
And what about you? You seem so obsessed with doing the research of your enemies… who is Tyler Cage? A “Big Money” Young man from Los Angeles, California. Your upstart was gifted, borderline privileged but I will not judge. Any single person would have chosen to be where you are with the things you were given, tempting for even myself- but I stave off the idea because of what we fundamentally are. Fundamentally… you took to Combat Sports to feed your own personal ego, to gain vanity support from millions across the world by taking to an industry populated by killers, legends, and masters of their respective craft. To your credit… you’ve done well… you beat exhibitionists and bingo hall performers, and it fed you… You came here, signed the dotted line and followed the allure of a medallion into this ring…
…And now you are about to crash head first into the harsh reality that is me. You see, Tyler, my mother- who you will never mention again lest you want me to cut out your little tongue with my bayonet- gave everything she had, worked in harsh conditions, and caused her to fall sick. I fight every single day to support her, to pay back the effort she gave for me, the effort my father ran off from without ever giving a single thought to. Through fire, smoke, sweat, anxiety, rage, mud, explosions, gunfire- I push through every single day because the love that burns in my heart for her burns brighter than any napalm or white phosphorus they tried to rain down on me. I claw my way through shit, go round after round, because the hunger to be what I know I can be, fuels me every single day. I fought every single day on those battlefields, my foe grabbing at my eyes, me, bashing his scalp, because the want, the drive, and will to win within me was greater. That is why I am here, and they are not.
I am going to take that little medallion, I am going to cut the trail to the title, I am going to take Underground by storm not because I am the next big thing, not because it is written, I am going to do it because no one on this god damn brand has the obsessive and borderline psychotic, spartanistic warmind to do it but me. I am going to walk in there and I am going to rip your opportunity from your grasp. You have a set of stones, Tyler, I respect that. I do… you even admitted I am a very dangerous person, and I will admit that, if I cut off both my arms and let you sink in a rear naked choke you might one day get me- but your drive is from a place of arrogance. Your love for this sport, comes from wanting to fill the void in your heart left because you’ve had every single thing handed to you, and now you want to compensate and prove that you are in fact someone. I am going to kill that hope, I am going to kill goal, and by the end of this match I am going to kill you.
I have stopped true believers across the world, buried my sword in their gullet and watched them die. I have faced world class boxers, and took them down with a single strike. I have defeated champions, won a 30 man battle royale, and used it to get a world renowned main event that I used to start my career here in the big leagues. That medallion is another step to completing this mission, to not just surviving til the next fight… but to ensuring that I am as I always knew I have been. And when we meet in that ring… I am going to collect, I am going to kick your ass, and I am going to show you why everyone in south russia fears the name Archangel.
Sleep well, son, Or you will sleep soon.
Because I am coming for you.
