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USA Today Sports Media Group
USA Today Sports Media Group
Sport
Matt Erickson and Abbey Subhan

Yaroslav Amosov says dominant title unification win at Bellator 291 makes him world’s top welterweight

DUBLIN – After a flawless performance in one of the biggest fights of his career, Yaroslav Amosov thinks he settled one thing Saturday.

Amosov now thinks he’s the best welterweight in the world.

“Of course (I’m the best in the world),” Amosov said after he dominated Logan Storley at Bellator 291 in Dublin. “I am here. If a UFC champion wants to fight, come to Bellator. Scott Coker will give the contract, and we’ll make the fight.”

Amosov (27-0 MMA, 8-0 BMMA) beat Storley (14-2 MMA, 9-2 BMMA) with a sweep of the scorecards to unify the welterweight title. Storley came in as the interim champ who won that belt while Amosov was fighting in a war against Russia in his home country of Ukraine.

Storley now has both his losses courtesy of Amosov. The first came in a split decision in November 2020. In the rematch, with the undisputed title on the line, Amosov proved to be improved.

“Before this fight, I said this fight was different,” Amosov said. “I have many (pounds) that I cut for my first match with Logan. (This fight), I had a very good camp and recover,y as well as different training. Every day, I trained hard and became better. I have the best team with me. He’s a very good fighter, and I knew this. It’s not a surprise to me, but I’m ready (for everything).”

Amosov ran his winning streak to 27, which is the longest active stretch in all of MMA. But that streak may not be what’s on Amosov’s mind.

The sad reality is he had to go to war to try to help freedom win for his country.

“I feel very good because I waited for this for a long time,” Amosov said. “I train hard training, and I feel a lot of motivation and responsibility. I’ll relax after the fight, and I’m happy because I think I gave my country a good day. It’s the first time I’ve had big support in the cage. In America, I’ve had support, but not like today – many Ukrainian flags, many Ukrainian people.

“Thank you for my country. Thank you for my army and the fans. It was for my country. Today, I think it is a very good day for my country to hold two gold belts.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for Bellator 291.

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