Yaroslav Amosov on fighting Russia, defending Ukraine and facing Logan Storley

Amosov has the longest unbeaten streak successful immoderate top-level MMA promotion

Warning: this communicative contains descriptions of struggle immoderate readers whitethorn find upsetting.

Below is simply a basement, supra are the remnants of a bombed-out home. Carefully cradled successful Amosov's arms is simply a package.

The Ukrainian peels backmost a integrative bag, unwraps a towel and, with a smile, wipes immoderate particulate from the Bellator welterweight rubric belt.

Much of the location has been destroyed by Russian shelling pursuing the country's penetration of Ukraine successful February 2022, but champion Amosov's loop remarkably remains intact.

It is simply a infinitesimal of happiness and anticipation among the crumbled surroundings of a battle-scarred town.

"Before my mum near for information she hid the loop successful her house, which evidently got bombed and ruined on with everything else," Amosov, 29, tells BBC Sport.

"When we liberated my metropolis I was portion of it, and successful the adjacent time oregon truthful I said 'hey, you cognize what, I'm going to spell backmost to the ruins of my aged location and spot if I tin find the belt'.

"I was truly excited. It was precise symbolic astatine the clip of a antithetic beingness I guess, and I was blessed to find it. Now it's benignant of go portion of my history."

On 25 February, against Logan Storley astatine Bellator 291 successful Dublin and unrecorded connected BBC iPlayer, Amosov volition support his rubric for the archetypal clip since helping to support his state against Russia's invasion.

With the warfare ongoing, leaving Ukraine was a hard determination for Amosov, but the reasoning down his instrumentality to the cage transcends competition.

"With capable unit from my household and friends, I started to spot what they were saying. Basically, instrumentality to MMA, spell backmost to warring and dispersed the word. Tell radical what's been going connected [in Ukraine]. This is the crushed I came back."

This is his communicative of war.

Amosov was calved successful Irpin, a metropolis connected the outskirts of the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.

He describes Irpin arsenic a once-beautiful city, afloat of happiness and life.

This is wherever Amosov and his household were past February erstwhile Russia's president Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to motorboat a full-scale battle connected Ukraine.

Irpin has suffered dense harm successful the attack, with hundreds of residents killed and thousands much uprooted from their homes.

"At archetypal you're benignant of successful a authorities of shock. You don't cognize what's going on," said Amosov.

"The astir important happening for america was to get our families to safety. Me and my friends, my parents, our wives, our elderly, our kids, dogs - anybody.

"The travel of people, postulation jams, it was horrible arsenic you tin imagine. Everyone is trying to get to safety. We finished packing up, got everybody successful the cars and past we deed the road. I drove for 36 hours consecutive to get them to safety."

With his household safely distant from the frontline, Amosov regained immoderate clarity and made a perchance life-changing determination - helium would thrust backmost to Irpin to support his city.

He did not cognize if helium would spot his household again.

Amosov, centre, was portion of the Ukrainian forces defending his location municipality of Irpin past year

Russia's penetration began connected the greeting of 24 February 2022. By evening, Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky had ordered the wide mobilisation of each men betwixt 18 and 60 years old, prohibiting them from leaving the country.

Amosov, similar galore of his countrymen, was thrust into enactment with nary subject experience.

"[My training] was successful the trenches. That's wherever we got our grooming - successful subject action. The warfare was training," said Amosov.

His clip astatine the opening was mostly occupied by helping the thousands of civilians who had been displaced from their homes by Russian bombing.

"I deliberation sometimes radical person a precise movie-like relation of what soldiers bash and they conscionable tally astir shooting each day," helium said.

"That's not what we were doing. A batch of our enactment had to bash with rescuing and helping radical successful immoderate they needed assistance with, whether it's recovering them from rubble oregon moving worldly oregon immoderate it was. You effort to bash immoderate it is you request to bash to marque definite radical get better.

"It was implicit a period and a fractional until we yet got a afloat subject azygous and past started to enactment successful immoderate of this action."

Amosov had ne'er fired a weapon successful his beingness erstwhile helium was fixed 1 by the Ukrainian military.

He says helium ever turned down friends' invites to shooting ranges oregon connected hunting trips.

"I was really ever benignant of shying distant from handling weapons. In the opening I didn't adjacent cognize if I was firing the happening the close way," helium said.

"I had to inquire radical adjacent to maine and my friends if I was utilizing the limb the close way."

By the extremity of March, Amosov had helped Ukrainian troops recapture Irpin from Russian occupation.

But it came astatine an immeasurable affectional cost.

A cemetery successful Irpin has been filling accelerated with the casualties of war

As of 13 February, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights says 7,199 civilians person died successful Ukraine arsenic a effect of Russia's invasion, with a further 11,756 injured.

Russia has been accused of tens of thousands of warfare crimes, including wide execution of civilians, torture and rape. Russia has denied its troops are blameworthy of specified actions, claiming grounds has been faked and accounts fabricated.

Amosov described what helium saw connected the crushed successful Irpin.

"When we liberated my hometown, there's a municipality adjacent to it, and we benignant of went determination to fto the radical cognize the Russian service has been pushed distant and they are present safe. And we saw a thoroughfare called the Street of Death," helium said.

"To the near and to the close each you saw was bodies. Regular people, grandmas, kids, wives, husbands, and they were determination for weeks. The Russian soldiers would not fto their loved ones cod the remains and hide them. They conscionable laid determination rotting.

"We got successful and we were telling them we were Ukrainian troops, that they were present liberated. They're crying and we're giving them breadstuff and water. They're excited conscionable to person immoderate benignant of a meal."

Amosov continued: "It makes you wonder, what benignant of idiosyncratic would bash this? What benignant of worker would travel these benignant of orders? What benignant of idiosyncratic would springiness these benignant of orders to slaughter guiltless civilians that person thing to bash with anything, successful their ain country?

"A batch of times we would spell determination and hide families and you don't adjacent cognize who they are. You would conscionable enactment a sanction and day they passed distant connected a sign, hoping aboriginal idiosyncratic could place it and fig it out. It's conscionable a mess, an implicit mess."

Amosov is inactive coming to presumption with these experiences.

Keeping the illustration of his country's origin precocious astir the satellite is simply a cardinal information for Amosov's instrumentality to the ring

After Ukrainian soldiers regained power of Irpin, Amosov took portion successful sporadic MMA grooming sessions.

Over the adjacent fewer months Amosov trained arsenic a hobby with nary volition of returning to nonrecreational competition, until his household and friends convinced him otherwise.

As his grooming intensified helium moved to a bigger MMA gym successful Germany, and earlier agelong his instrumentality to contention was confirmed. In November, it was announced helium would look interim welterweight champion Storley.

But it is hard to absorption connected the forthcoming combat and hide the bigger 1 backmost home.

"Some of my friends who came to sojourn maine each had the aforesaid sensation - it was aeroplanes. When an aeroplane would alert implicit we get this sick feeling due to the fact that successful the Ukraine it's atrocious news. Something is coming. There's going to beryllium a bombing. So proceeding aeroplanes is difficult," said Amosov.

"And past not seeing the subject successful the streets and not walking astir with guns and successful ruins. And past the curfew - we had a curfew successful Ukraine - truthful yeah, it took rather a spot of adjustment."

Amosov continued: "I deliberation the biggest portion it affects is you commencement to re-evaluate what's important successful beingness and what are the things that substance and the things that don't," helium said.

"To beryllium honorable with you, I truly don't cognize genuinely however this affected me. It's inactive affecting me, it hasn't settled in."

Amosov says his friends and household person helped with his accommodation to beingness extracurricular war, but helium has received nary nonrecreational care.

Amosov's archetypal acquisition of MMA was astatine the property of 16 erstwhile helium joined a combat sambo gym - a signifier of martial arts fashionable successful Eastern Europe.

After transitioning to MMA, helium won 19 fights earlier signing with American promotion Bellator successful 2018 wherever helium became welterweight champion and extended his unbeaten grounds to 26.

Amosov's tally is presently the longest unbeaten streak successful a large MMA promotion.

His bout against American Storley, 30, is simply a rematch of their 2020 contention which Amosov won by divided decision.

Amosov says the acquisition defending his state has changed his motivations for fighting. He has mislaid friends and grooming partners during the war.

"Any clip present erstwhile I look trouble oregon I consciousness bushed from training, I can't assistance but deliberation astir my friends and my household that are successful Ukraine close now," helium said.

"In the trenches, defending my state and however overmuch harder it is for them. It puts things into position and I privation to convey them for doing it, but yes, it has changed my motivation.

"I privation to win. I privation to bring the loop backmost location to Ukraine. I deliberation it means a batch much present than it ever has. To my state which I love, it means everything."

Despite grooming to support his unbeaten streak and satellite title, the ongoing warfare remains astatine the forefront of Amosov's thoughts.

"War leaves marks and it decidedly near a people connected me. And it's not over, it's inactive going connected and radical are inactive dying," helium said.

"They are attacking [civilians], flying astir and dropping bombs, sidesplitting guiltless radical near and right. What's the mentation for that?

"As soon arsenic this fight's over, I'm going to spell backmost to Ukraine."