UFC 272: Ukrainian Fighter Reduced To Tears After Big Win

A Ukrainian UFC fighter is dedicating her win to her family in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s Maryna Moroz faced Kazakhstan’s Mariya Agapova in the preliminary card of UFC 272 Saturday. Moroz, who came in off a two-fight win streak, was able to stop Agapova in less than two rounds. She relied on her ground game and finished her opponent via arm-triangle choke submission.

In her octagon interview after the fight, “The Iron Lady” couldn’t help but express her thoughts about the situation in her home country. Moroz got emotional as she thanked her family back in Ukraine and everyone who helped her endure an emotionally-challenging week.

“My family is in Ukraine, I had a hard week. I worried, I cried, because my family is right now in a bad situation,” Moroz admitted.

“Thank you to everyone who messaged me, because this week was hard for me,” she continued. “I want to cry because of this war my country is in.”

Prior to her UFC 272 fight, Moroz took a dig at Russian President Vladimir Putin over Russia's invasion of her country.

“F--- you, b----! I love my country. Don’t touch Ukraine!,” she ranted to TMZ Sports.

Moroz is looking to prolong her winning streak, having gone unbeaten in the UFC since 2018. She hopes to get as many fights as possible this year after two long years of inactivity.

Opening up about her struggles ahead of UFC 272, the 30-year-old revealed how hard it was to be a foreign fighter in terms of paperwork.

“People don’t know why my fights have been getting canceled, but it was because I was having trouble with my documents,” Moroz told UFC’s official website. “First, I was stuck in Ukraine and it was hard to train, but when I made it back to America and I was training at American Top Team [ATT], I started to up my level, technically and everything.”

Moroz also admitted that the difficulties in her profession and the war in Ukraine have been stressing her out. But the love and support from her fans have kept her fueled through these tough times.

“Sometimes, I feel terrible, but I have a lot of support and big love for my fans,” she added. “I always believed that I’d be back in the [UFC] Octagon. I trained hard and, as always, in my heart, I was strong.”