Ed Ruth eyes finish over Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 239, wants title shot by year’s end

Ed Ruth will headline his first Bellator show at Bellator 239 when he takes on Yaroslav Amosov, who is 22-0.

Ruth, 8-1 and on a two-fight winning streak, had his eye on the Ukrainian after seeing him steamroll over his three Bellator opponents.

“I had my eye on him. I watched a fight of his before and it’s like who is this guy he is beating everyone up,” Ruth said to BJPENN.com. “I’m excited about it.”

Although they are both up-and-upcoming prospects, Ruth wasn’t surprised they were matched up. But he is excited about the fight as they have similar styles as they both like to come forward and are high-level wrestlers.

But, for “EZ” he knows he has a different style than Amosov’s past opponents which will be the difference-maker.

“I think it is that grind he brings into the cage. But, being a fellow wrestler and a pressure fighter myself we are both going to be doing the same thing,” he explained. “I know my wrestling is better than his. It will hit the ground as we both like to throw hands. But, we both come forward and use our wrestling, too.”

Ruth believes he will be the one coming forward which will frustrate “Dynamo” and result in a finish win.

“Definitely the volume and cardio will frustrate him,” he said. “Me, personally I see it going into the later rounds but I want to finish him.”

Ed Ruth is confident a win over Amosov and handing him his first loss would do a lot for his career. He also thinks a win gets him close to a title shot.

“I think it puts me in contention for the belt. I feel like this guy is a step up from my last opponent. This puts my name in the hat,” he said. “I feel like it puts me real close.”

The only problem is Douglas Lima, the welterweight champion is moving up in weight to middleweight to fight Gegard Mousasi for the vacant belt. He’s disappointed the belt will be on pause but knows Lima deserves that opportunity.

“I hate to see the belt be on suspension pretty much,” Ruth said. “But, it is cool as Douglas Lima has earned that. But, I’m focusing on beating Lima at 170.”

In the end, Ed Ruth is confident he’ll get his hand raised on Friday. After that, he wants a title shot by the end of the year.

“Just keep winning and win the belt or be right there to be next in line for the belt by the end of the year,” he concluded. 

Do you think Ed Ruth will beat Yaroslav Amosov at Bellator 239?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/20/2020.