Yaroslav Amosov discusses harrowing journey from the war in Ukraine ahead of Bellator 291

The reigning Bellator welterweight champion will fight for the first time since the war began over a year ago

We often hear fighters say they've "prepared for war" ahead of a bout. Rarely, however, does a fighter head directly from the front lines of an actual war to a pre-fight training camp for a world championship title defense.

Yaroslav Amosov has done just that, going from defending his native Ukraine from invading Russian forces to unify his welterweight championship against interim champ Logan Storley in the main event of Saturday's Bellator 291.

In a recently released video produced by Bellator MMA, Amosov described the harrowing experiences he has faced since the morning the war began. According to the champion, the memories of his time taking up arms still haunt him.

"The morning when the war started, I saw out my window and I listened to what happened," Amosov said. "I had a kid, six months, I said to my wife, 'Ok, let's go,' and we moved to a different city. I drove my car for 36 hours with no sleep. After, I knew I must go back to my city and help my country.

"...I remember many, many pictures in my head. You see many, many dead civilians. Old women, kids, families. I don't know why you shoot an old woman? Why shoot kids? It's civilians, it's not the army. Why does the Russian army do this? I don't understand. Sometimes I go to sleep and close my eyes and I see this and sometimes I don't sleep."

After the Russian troops were driven out of Amosov's home city, he contacted his mother to ask if she had managed to save his Bellator championship belt amid the chaos. Amosov was able to recover the belt from where it had been hidden and quickly found himself encouraged to return to the cage to defend it.

"After I got my belt, my friends told me, "Yaroslav, you must go defend your belt,'" Amosov said. "I thought about it for a long time and maybe yes, maybe no. But many people said, 'You must go. So, I go.'

"What's happening now in Ukraine is very big motivation. I want to go into the cage and I want to win. I left my city and I started training. Of course, it's very hard. But I will go to Ukraine after the fight and I want to show our world that Ukrainian people are very strong and very hard people. Maybe the news of one Ukranian guy defending his belt is very good for the people. I fight for them."