Women’s flyweight star Maryna Moroz gave an emotional post-fight interview about how worried she is for her friends and family in Ukraine, following her victory on the preliminary card at UFC 272. The Ukrainian fighter fought Kazakhstan’s Mariya Agapova in the first contest of the night and secured an outstanding second-round stoppage thanks to an arm-triangle choke. After the fight, Moroz was visibly emotional and took to the microphone to address the crowd. “My family is in Ukraine," she said. "I had a hard week. I worried, I cried, because my family is right now in a bad situation."Thank you to everyone who messaged me, supported me, because this week was hard for me. I wanted to cry because of this war my country is in.“I have a lot of pressure. All this week I feel nervous, I cried. I tried to focus. Many people don't know, but it was really hard for me. I see in Ukraine how terrible the situation is. It was really my heart almost crying. But I did it. I focused and I did fight."Moroz also stressed that many of her friends in Ukraine have died already and that she was worried for her mother’s safety. â€œI'm nervous about my mother,” she stressed. “I don't want Russian people to come and kill my family, because many of my friends have died right now."

Moroz’s victory was her 11th in the UFC and her third in succession. She was also awarded performance of the night in Nevada — the second time she has won the honour. 

The Ukrainian win came on the undercard of Colby Covington’s bout with Jorge Masvidal. In the end, it was Covington who won the welterweight clash via unanimous decision. 

Moroz is not the only Ukrainian athlete who has been outspoken on the events occurring in Eastern Europe right now. 

Tennis star Elina Svitolina recently revealed she was inspired by Ukrainian flags in the crowd of her second-round match at the Monterrey Open. 

Meanwhile, a number of male Ukrainian boxing stars have taken up arms to protect their homeland, including Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko, Oleksandr Usyk and Vasiliy Lomachenko.