Tonight, three-time NCAA champion Ed Ruth (8-1 MMA/Bellator) is set to take on the undefeated Yaroslav Amosov (22-0 MMA, 3-0 Bellator) in a three round welterweight main event for Bellator 239. The card will be streamed live from the WinStar World Casino on the DAZN streaming app.
Ahead of the fight, Ruth caught up with MMA Junkie to talk about his thoughts on his opponent and how he’s feeling going into Friday, Feb. 21.
“I feel like it’s appropriate. You know? I was like, if anything, they better give me somebody who’s 22-0. You know? I wanna show people that there’s a monster coming,” said Ruth when he was asked about his thoughts on facing an undefeated opponent.
Ruth isn’t only fighting an undefeated fighter in Amosov, he’s fighting a veteran of the sport who posseses more than twice the fight experience he has.
The three-time NCAA champion acknowledged that Amosov is a complete, well-rounded fighter, and that’s exactly what he wants in an opponent.
“From what I’ve seen with him, he’s a good wrestler, I see that. You know, passing the guard, once he get’s the guy down it seems like he gets a little – a little hung up on his decisions, but other than that, he’s a good all around fighter. He’s a complete fighter. You know? And that’s exactly who I want to compete against. Complete fighters.”
With these two fighters being two top contenders in the welterweight division, a title shot could be right around the corner for the winner of this fight.
With the divisions champion, Douglas Lima, set to fight Gegard Mousasi for the vacant Bellator middleweight title in May in an attempt to become a two-division champion, Ruth was asked about whether or not he looks to compete in multiple weight classes as well throughout his career.
“Everybody wants to be two division belt champions,” said Ruth. “I started out at (middleweight), I plan to go back eventually. I don’t know how far down the road, but you know, eventually I do wanna make that transition and bump up. I just like being bigger, I like feeling heavier, and I – once you start to kind of get MMA down, you start to understand the universal rules of the sport. Then you feel more comfortable going with heavier guys.
This is a match up between two highly skilled fighters. Despite the discrepency in experience, this is anticipated to be a very close fight.
