ONE Championship's Shuya Kamikubo donates part of fight purse to animal shelter

ONE Championship is home to some of the world's toughest fighters, but even the toughest of the tough have their soft spots outside the Circle. For Shuya Kamikubo, it's his love for animals.

Following his impressive submission win over the reeling Troy Worthen at ONE: Heavy Hitters on January 14, the 26-year-old donated part of his fight purse to the Hogoken Cafe shelter back home in Japan.

Kamikubo tweeted out:

"We have donated a portion of the money from this match. We hope that the awareness of shelter dogs and cats will increase."

Apart from clips and snapshots of his best MMA moments, "Stealth" hasn't exactly been stealthy about his love for his four-legged friends.

One of his Instagram posts, concisely captioned "doggy," is a 42-minute video of two dogs just playing with their chew toys. That really says it all about the man's off-duty passion.

Given the fact that ONE Championship is now more liberally handing out more US$50,000 bonuses for impressive performances, one can expect a more dangerous Kamikubo from here on out as he continues his dominant stretch in the Circle.

One man's downfall with his hands, after all, can see another animal's life improve down the road. It's as pure and simple as any motivation can get.

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Shuya Kamikubo continues undefeated streak in ONE Championship

Don't let the cute videos fool you, Shuya Kamikubo is as tough as they come.

Following his win over Troy Worthen, the Honey Trap Gym product has now won nine straight fights over a six-year span. He now holds an MMA record of 12-1-1.

Kamikubo has not yet sniffed the ONE featherweight rankings in its latest release. However, a few more wins, likely in the name of animal welfare, can quickly change all that.