---
title: "“It’s only comfortable to fight an equal”: M13 FIGHTS founder Artem Grot explains why the league has no civilians"
description: "M13 FIGHTS league founder Artem Grot explained why only soldiers and veterans take part in the tournaments: in his words, a fighter with combat experience is comfortable fighting only an equal in experience, not a civilian."
date: 2026-09-09T16:16:00.000Z
lang: en
url: https://xab.info/en/posts/m13-fights-why-only-soldiers-and-veterans
tags: [m13-fights, artem-grot, veterans, fist-fighting, ukraine-military, mma]
publisher: "XAB.info"
---

# “It’s only comfortable to fight an equal”: M13 FIGHTS founder Artem Grot explains why the league has no civilians

![Tattooed professional M13 FIGHTS fighter in league gloves inside the ring — illustrating Artem Grot's statement on why M13 has no amateur fighters](https://xab.info/media/2026/09/09/m13-fights-pochemu-tochno-voennye-i-veterany/m13-fights-pochemu-tochno-voennye-i-veterany-1.webp)

## 🎯 Key Points

- Only military personnel and veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war are admitted to the M13 FIGHTS league.
- According to Artem Grot, a fighter with combat experience is comfortable fighting and losing only to an equal in experience, not to a civilian.
- The tournaments allow aggression to be safely channeled and conflicts between soldiers to be resolved sportingly, without weapons.
- The league holds fights at unconventional venues — on a barge in the middle of the Dnipro and in Khmelnytskyi — and Grot does not rule out fights on an airship.

Soviet Special Forces (SSO) veteran and founder of the veterans' league M13 FIGHTS, Artem Grot, publicly clarified a key principle of his project: only military personnel and veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war are admitted to the tournaments. In his words, this is not a formal restriction but a fundamental feature of the format that sets M13 FIGHTS apart from classic sporting events, where civilian athletes step into the ring or octagon. Grot insists that for a person with combat experience, it only makes sense to compete against someone who has walked the same path.

### A format designed exclusively for soldiers and veterans

As Grot explained, a soldier who has gained combat experience, sustained injuries, and endured the loss of friends objectively cannot comfortably spar or compete against someone who has not been through all of that. “A soldier who gains combat experience, sustains injuries, and loses his friends — after that it is hard to spar or compete against a person who has not been through it,” noted the league's founder. In his belief, M13 FIGHTS creates an environment in which all participants have walked a similar path and, by virtue of that, understand each other without unnecessary explanations.### Why civilians have no place in the ring

Grot's central argument is built on the idea of equality between opponents. “He is most comfortable fighting an equal and losing to an equal, not to a civilian,” emphasized the SSO veteran. Thus, in his logic, the ban on civilian participation protects the fighters themselves from psychological discomfort and from the feeling of an unfair clash with a person who lacks comparable combat and life experience. By the founder's design, the league functions as a closed community of like-minded people rather than an open sports organization.### Channeling aggression and the sporting resolution of conflicts

Grot placed a separate emphasis on the psychological function of the tournaments: the competitions allow the safe channeling of accumulated emotions and aggression that inevitably build up in people who have been through combat operations. Moreover, the league's founder directly links the project to preventing real conflicts within military units. “If a conflict between your own people goes beyond words — settle it with bare fists in our league or one-on-one in your units, but without weapons,” he summed up, insisting that any disputes between soldiers must be resolved exclusively through sport, not with weapons.### Unconventional venues: from a barge in the middle of the Dnipro to an airship

Beyond the ideological justification of the format, M13 FIGHTS also stands out for its choice of venues. The league previously held a tournament on a barge in the middle of the Dnipro — with the participation of veterans, ten bouts, and a ceremony in which the winner was handed a golden AK-47. In Khmelnytskyi, according to media reports, the league opened its season with a bare-knuckle boxing tournament between soldiers. At the same time, Grot does not rule out even more unusual scenarios — including holding fights on an airship, which points to the organizers' drive to push the format beyond the boundaries of conventional sports arenas.

Thus, Artem Grot's position boils down to the fact that M13 FIGHTS is not merely a sporting event, but a specialized environment for soldiers and veterans, in which equality of combat experience, psychological safety, and the sporting resolution of conflicts are the main conditions of participation.

## 🔍 Fact-Check Verification

- [Why civilians are not admitted to the M13 FIGHTS tournament: the organizer's explanation](https://sport.rbc.ua/ukr/othersport/chomu-tsivilnih-dopuskayut-turniru-m13-fights-1788970384.html) - Первичный источник: прямые цитаты Артема Грота о допуске только военных и ветеранов, канализации агрессии и спортивном разрешении конфликтов.
- [Bare-knuckle boxing tournament between soldiers in Khmelnytskyi. M13 Fights league opens its season](https://gordonua.com/section-sport/news-turnir-kulachnykh-boyiv-mizh-viyskovymy-u-khmelnytskomu-liha-m13-fights-vidkryla-sezon-27-04-2026.html) - Подтверждает существование лиги и проведение сезонного турнира в Хмельницком (27.04.2026).
- [Bare-knuckle boxing tournament between soldiers took place in Khmelnytskyi: M13 FIGHTS league opens its season](https://focus.ua/ukraine/752144-turnir-kulachnyh-boev-mezhdu-voennymi-sostoyalsya-v-hmelnickom-liga-m13-fights-otkryla-sezon) - Независимое подтверждение турнира в Хмельницком и формата боев между военными.
- [M13 FIGHTS military tournament held on a barge in Kyiv](https://novosti.ua/society/turnir-voennyh-m13-fights-proshel-na-barzhe-v-kieve) - Подтверждает проведение турнира на барже (Киев/Днепр), согласуется с упоминанием баржи и десяти поединков в основном тексте.

## ❓ FAQ

### Q: Why do civilians not participate in M13 FIGHTS?
**A:** According to founder Artem Grot, a soldier with combat experience, injuries, and losses cannot comfortably spar with a person who has not been through it. A fighter is comfortable fighting and losing only to an equal in experience, not to a civilian athlete.

### Q: Who can participate in M13 FIGHTS tournaments?
**A:** Exclusively military personnel and veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The league positions itself as a closed environment for people with comparable combat experience.

### Q: At which venues are M13 FIGHTS fights held?
**A:** The league uses unconventional venues: a tournament was held on a barge in the middle of the Dnipro (with ten bouts and a golden AK-47 for the champion) and in Khmelnytskyi. Grot also does not rule out holding fights on an airship.