MMA star feared for her mother's life in Ukraine war on day of key fight
PFL featherweight Olena Kolesnyk feared for her mother's life moments before making the walk for her make-or-break showdown with Abby Montes last summer amid the war in Ukraine.
Kolesnyk was riding a five-fight losing streak that had most recently seen her knocked out within a round when she faced Montes in Arlington, Texas, while her rival had just handed Claressa Shields her only defeat as a professional fighter. And seconds before having her hands wrapped, she sent a message to her mother at home in the heavily-hit Ukrainian town of Odessa.
And as her preparations for the crunch fight continued, the text remained unanswered, with the fighter ultimately heading to her ring walk not knowing if her mother was alive or dead. She picked up a split decision victory and immediately broke down in tears, allowing the moment to completely overtake her in the cage.
"It was mentally hard not because of the situation where I'd lost before," Kolesnyk explained to Mirror Fighting. "It was mentally hard because of the situation in my country, my hometown was attacked and my mum would not respond to my messages.
"When the cutman was making my hand wraps, I texted my mum's mobile and she did not respond. The first word I said when I won the fight was 'mama' and that's why it was so emotional. Finally I let all of my emotions go after the fight because all this time I did not share these emotions.
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"I didn't share it with coaches, not with teammates, not with anyone - I kept everything to myself. So it was really hard, it's still hard every day. But I'm blessed, I have two hands, I have two legs, I have a spirit and I just pray to God that he will give me an opportunity to fight and that my next opponent will be okay and she will step in against me on June 16 and we make a good fight."
Kolesnyk faces Yoko Higashi in Atlanta on Friday night in the second round of regular season match-ups, but did contemplate taking a break from the sport in order to fight on the front lines for her country. However, her mother told her that she can make a larger difference by using the platform of PFL, who are broadcast on major networks such as DAZN in the UK and ESPN in America.
Olena Kolesnyk returns to the cage this weekend (Cooper Neill / PFL)"I thought about going to the army to protect my country," she continued. "But my mom is a really wise woman and she said 'yeah of course you know how to shoot and you know how to fight but you are still not a soldier'. She told me that I can make more difference and have more influence on people's minds by using my platform in sport.
"I can speak with the people and explain my situation at home because sometimes the news can not describe and show everything that's going on. I can because I speak with the people in the army right now, the soldiers so I can describe the real situation at home.
"Something cold has become of my soul, something is dead in my soul. I feel myself like something died inside. That's what has made us more cold. Usually people from Ukraine, the post-Soviet Union we are pretty stubborn and cold people not too open about emotions, only with certain close people. But I think what has happened with Ukraine, what happened nowadays with this war has changed the mind of each Ukrainian person."
Watch Olena Kolesnyk look to make the PFL playoffs on Friday night against Yoko Higashi live on DAZN from the OTE Arena in Atlanta
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