Moment Ukrainian MMA champion recovers championship belt from bombed home

'My mother hid it safely and it survived the bombings'

MMA fighter Yaroslav Amosov is currently fighting alongside his fellow Ukrainians on the frontline, but the champion managed to return to his now bombed-out home to recover his championship belt. In a clip posted to his Instagram, Amosov can be seen walking back up a ladder from the basement of his home in Irpin - a city that has witnessed almost constant bombardment from Russian forces - and removing his belt from a plastic carrier bag.

The 28-year-old became Bellator welterweight champion in June 2021 and is currently 26-0. Amosov was set to defend his title on May 13 against British kickboxer Michael Page, but the fight was called off when Amosov volunteered to defend his country. Having retaken the west of Kyiv, Amosov was at least able to return and ensure his well-earned prize was still intact. He writes in the caption: “A belt with great history! Now I definitely won’t give it away. My mother hid it safely and it survived the bombings.” The fighter hasn't posted on his social media all that much amid the fighting - mobile phones present a serious safety risk - but he did manage to share this powerful image alongside his brothers in arms: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb0PAQYgurT/ Speaking in a video message prior to this post and not long after having joined Ukraine's defence efforts, the welterweight champ condemned Vladimir Putin's suggestion that his invasion was intended to "save Ukraine from Nazism", responding: “You [Russia] are not saving us, we are defending from you.

“Russian troops came to our territory and say that they are 'saving.' I wonder, whom did you save in this particular house? And that's just the small part of it. Orphanages, civilians are also getting hit.”