Bellator champion Yaroslav Amosov said Saturday he will stay in his native Ukraine and “defend this country as best I can” against Russia’s invasion.
Amosov, Bellator’s welterweight title-holder, said in a video posted to Instagram that he took his family to a “safe zone,” but has now returned to Ukraine, where he will remain and fight. Amosov spoke Ukrainian in the video and the English translation of his comments was confirmed to ESPN by his manager Andrey Spivachuk.
“Probably, many will think that I ran away, I’m hiding or something like that, but this is not so,” said Amosov, ESPN’s No. 7-ranked welterweight fighter. “I took my family to the safe zone. Now I have returned and will defend this country as best I can, with what I can. I love this country, our own. Russia came to our house and started a war here, many people are dying — innocents, women and children.
“We are…
