With Bellator champ fighting for Ukraine; interim title bout set

Bellator on Wednesday confirmed an interim title bout to MMAWeekly.com, since welterweight champion Yaroslav Amosov is currently fighting for Ukraine and withdrew from his scheduled title defense against Michael “Venom” Page.

Amosov had been slated to defend against Page in the Bellator 281 headlining bout on May 13 at OVO Arena Wembley in London. He previously announced that he would not fight on May 13, instead opting to defend his home country alongside Ukranian Hall of Fame boxers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko.

Yaroslav Amosov chooses fighting for Ukraine over fighting for his belt

Amosov is a Ukrainian citizen by birth and fights out of Irpin, Ukraine. Irpin is located on the northwestern edge of Kyiv, one of the most hotly contested areas of fighting following Russia’s continued invasion of Ukraine. Like millions of other Ukrainians, Amosov has elected to remain in his country to defend it from Russian president Vladimir Putin’s unconscionable war on Russia’s independent neighbor.

Putin has said that his country’s “special military operation” is intended to free the Ukrainian people. In his most recent Instagram post, the 28-year-old Amosov shared a video in which gunfire could be heard in the background. He questioned how anyone could believe the word’s Putin was using to try and disguise his invasion.

“We are defending ourselves. Russian troops came to our territory and they talk about saving us? It’s very interesting to me, who did you save in this house? And this is just a fraction of it. It drops [a shell] on orphanages and regular houses. They shoot at civilians,” Amosov said in the video (translated by MMAFighting).

“Terrible things are happening. I don’t understand those people who don’t believe what is going on in our country. They watch their TV and think everything is okay here. They believe that [the Russian people] are saving us. [They’re] not saving us, I don’t know how people of Ukraine will forgive Russia for what they did to our country. And this is not even the end.

“Many people are dying,” he continued. “I don’t know how you can tell a person who lives in Ukraine what goes on here. I see it with my own eyes, I can hear it — well, I’m sure you guys can hear it.”

Bellator issues support for champion fighting for Ukraine

Bellator officials did not offer any update on Amosov’s status within Ukraine, but company president Scott Coker issued a statement of support for the welterweight champion and his country’s people.

“Like the rest of the world, we’ve been shocked by the tragic events in Ukraine and the thoughts of everyone at Bellator MMA are with Yaroslav and all the Ukrainian people during this time,” Coker said.

“We wish he and his family the best and look forward to seeing him return safely to happier times, both inside and out of the Bellator cage.”

Michael ‘Venon’ Page to face Logan Storley for interim Bellator welterweight championship

With the ongoing Russian invasion and Amosov continuing to fight for Ukraine, Bellator opted to keep his initial challenger, Michael “Venom” Page in the Bellator 281 main event. Instead of challenging Amosov for his belt, No. 1 ranked Page will instead face No. 4 ranked Logan Storley for the interim Bellator welterweight championship in London.

With Amosov literally fighting a war, there is no way of currently knowing what his future is with the fight promotion. Right now, Amosov is doing everything he can to win the fight of his life, defending his home country.

Bellator 281: MVP vs. Storley Fight Card

Bellator 281 main card

(Friday, May 13, 4pm ET / 1pm PT on Showtime)

Welterweight Interim Title: #1-Michael Page (20-1) vs.#4-Logan Storley (13-1)
Welterweight Bout #2-Douglas Lima (32-10) vs. #3-Jason Jackson (15-4)
Middleweight Bout: #6-Lyoto Machida (26-11) vs #4-Fabian Edwards (9-2)
Women’s Flyweight Bout: #3-Denise Kielholtz (6-3) vs. #4-Kana Watanabe (10-1-1)
Welterweight Bout: #8-Paul Daley (43-18-2) vs #6-Andrey Koreshkov (25-4)