Got 5 minutes?We would love to hear from you

Take our survey
Culture

Ukrainian MMA fighter and war veteran, Yaroslav Amosov, wins at UFC 328

2 min read
Ukrainian MMA fighter and war veteran, Yaroslav Amosov, wins at UFC 328
Yaroslav Amosov of Ukraine reacts after a victory against Joel Alvarez of Spain in a welterweight fight during the UFC 328 event at Prudential Center on May 09, 2026 in Newark, New Jersey. (Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)

Ukrainian mixed martial arts fighter (MMA) Yaroslav Amosov secured a victory over Spaniard Joel Alvarez at UFC 328 on May 10 in the welterweight division.

Amosov secured the win via an arm-triangle choke submission in the second round at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

The 32-year-old Ukrainian now holds 30 wins and one loss in his professional MMA career.

In combat sambo, Amosov has won three world titles, two European championships, and a Eurasian championship, along with victories at the Cup of Europe and numerous national and international tournaments.

Article image
Yaroslav Amosov, together with other Ukrainian soldiers, holds his 170-pound title belt, which he recovered from the debris of his mother’s home in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast, on April 1, 2022. (Yaroslav Amosov / Instagram)

He made his UFC debut in December 2025, defeating American Neil Magny by first-round submission. The win earned him a place in the UFC welterweight rankings.

Amosov took a career break to fight in the Ukrainian military in 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He joined Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces and took part in the defense of Kyiv Oblast, helping protect his hometown of Irpin from Russian troops.

After the liberation of Irpin, Amosov returned to the ruins of his mother's home, which was heavily damaged during the fighting, and recovered his world championship belt from the debris.

Video of Amosov recovering the Bellator title from a destroyed building later circulated widely around the world.

0:00
/
Video of Yaroslav Amosov recovering his Bellator title from his mother’s house in his hometown of Irpin, which was destroyed during the Russian offensive in Kyiv Oblast, published on April 1, 2022. (Yaroslav Amosov / Instagram)
Avatar
Linda Hourani

Junior Investigative Reporter

Linda is a Ukrainian junior reporter investigating Russia’s global influence and disinformation. She has over two years of experience writing news and feature stories for Ukrainian media outlets. She holds an Erasmus Mundus M.A. in Journalism, Media, and Globalisation from Aarhus University and the University of Amsterdam, where she trained in data journalism and communication studies.

Read more
News Feed
Show More