Yaroslav Amosov Withdraws From Bellator 281 To Defend Ukraine, Interim Title Announced

Bellator Champ Amosov chooses to defend his home country rather than his title.

Amosov
(via @s_amoskin - Instagram)

Yaroslav Amosov is out of his fight against Michael ‘Venom’ Page.

Amosov Withdraws

The Bellator Welterweight Champion was scheduled to make his first title defense against MVP at Bellator 281 on May 13. However, plans change. Instead of defending his belt in London, Amosov has decided to continue defending his home country of Ukraine

Bellator would respect Amosov’s decision to withdraw from the bout, as his country is currently being invaded by Russia

“Like the rest of the world, we’ve been shocked by the tragic events in Ukraine and the thoughts of everyone at Bellator MMA are with Yaroslav and all the Ukrainian people during this time,” Scott Coker said in a press release. “We wish he and his family the best and look forward to seeing him return safely to happier times, both inside and out of the Bellator cage.”

Amosov isn’t the only fighter defending Ukraine. Quite a few of his countrymen joined the fight such as Vasiliy Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk, and boxing brothers Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko. Like Amosov, Lomachenko also withdrew from his title fight. He was scheduled to face George Kambosos Jr. but ultimately decided to fight for Ukraine instead. 

The Show Must Go On

In the wake of the Bellator Champ not returning at Bellator 281, the promotion has put together an interim title fight in Amosov’s absence. Michael ‘Venom’ Page will now take on top contender Logan Storley in London. 

MVP is currently riding a 6-fight win streak. The British star last defeated Douglas Lima in October. The win would come in the SSE Arena in London, he hopes to get another one there on May 12th.

On the other side of the cage lies Storley. ‘Storm’ is coming off a unanimous decision victory over Neiman Gracie in February. Storley has 13 wins and his only loss comes to the current champ Amosov, in which many thought he had won the fight. He looks to get that long-awaited rematch with the Ukrainian champ with a win at Bellator 281.

UPDATED BELLATOR 281: MVP VS. STORLEY MAIN CARD: Friday, May 13, 9 p.m. GMT/4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT

  • Welterweight Interim World Title Main Event: #1-Michael Page (20-1) vs. #4-Logan Storley (13-1)
  • Welterweight Bout #2-Douglas Lima (32-10) vs. #3-Jason Jackson (15-4)
  • Middleweight Bout: #6-Lyoto Machida (26-11) vs #4-Fabian Edwards (9-2)
  • Women’s Flyweight Bout: #3-Denise Kielholtz (6-3) vs. #4-Kana Watanabe (10-1-1)
  • Welterweight Bout: #8-Paul Daley (43-18-2) vs #6-Andrey Koreshkov (25-4)

UPDATED BELLATOR 281: MVP VS. STORLEY PRELIMINARY CARD: Friday, May 13, 5:30 p.m. GMT/12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT

BELLATOR MMA YouTube channel | SHOWTIME Sports YouTube channel | Pluto TV (US)

  • Light Heavyweight Bout: Luke Trainer (5-0) vs. Simon Biyong (7-2)
  • Featherweight Bout: #8-Daniel Weichel (41-13) vs. Robert Whiteford (16-4)
  • Welterweight Bout: Oliver Enkamp (10-3) vs Mark Lemminger (12-4)
  • Flyweight Bout: Kate Jackson (11-5-1) vs. Elina Kallionidou (8-4)
  • Lightweight Bout:Alfie Davis (14-4) vs. Tim Wilde (14-4)
  • Featherweight Bout: Andrew Fisher (18-8-1) vs Attila Korkmaz (12-6)
  • Light Heavyweight Bout: Lee Chadwick (27-15-1) vs Maciej Rozanski (13-3)
  • Light Heavyweight Bout: Arunas Andriuskevicus (15-5) vs David Trallero (8-5)
  • Women’s Strawweight Bout: Chiara Penco (6-3) vs Lanchana Green (4-4-1)
Published on March 23, 2022 at 10:59 am
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