Vadim Nemkov may be the best lightweight on earth.
Seven years have passed since it was one of the best defeats for Russia. Nemkov (16-2, 1 no contest) took Bellator gold from Ryan Bader in August 2020 and has already broken the promotion’s division title defense record, scoring his third in November 2022 over Corey Anderson via unanimous decision.
Nemkov’s title win brought him to the $1 million Bellator Light Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament, where many exciting matches could have taken place. One of the most notorious theoretical pairings involved former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) contender Yoel Romero, who was supposed to take part in the festivities until he was deemed medically unfit to compete. Romero has racked up wins over Alex Polizzi and Melvin Manhoef since then, and is now ready to challenge Nemkov at Bellator 297 on June 16, 2023, in Chicago, Illinois.
From the hero’s point of view, there is not much merit in obtaining the title of “Soldier of the Lord”.
“I had this fight because he’s a huge star in MMA,” said Nemkov. MMA mania. “He’s got a good history, he’s got a legacy. But he’s never won anyone in the top five or top ten, and that’s because of his history. He’s so famous, he’s an MMA superstar. That’s why he got into the fight with me.”
Nemkov, 30, has already faced one of the most talented top names throughout his 19-fight career, so Romero is nothing new to the Combat Sambo dynamo.
While he has strong grappling abilities, Nemkov has basically destroyed his opponents on his feet, and this is where Romero’s match is expected to play out despite Romero’s wrestling at the Olympic level.
“I don’t think he’s going to wrestle with me,” said Nemkov. “He’s older and at his age the wrestling is really tough. So, I think he’s going to try to fight back, he’s going to try to do explosive moves. That’s my vision of the fight.
“There is no doubt that he is a very tough fighter,” he added. “But in my ranking, he would be fourth after Phil Davis, Corey Anderson and Ryan Bader.”
Nemkov would only go on to make history with his winning streak, extending his Bellator Light Heavyweight title defense record. Thanks to Jon Jones’ weight class departure in 2020, Nemkov has become a top pick among the community as the world’s top 205-pound fighter. This argument still stands because the UFC title has been a hot potato for the past three years.
In the end, there may be a bigger fish to fry after so many property defenses.
“Sometimes I think about heavy weight. That could be a goal,” Nemkoff said. “It’s also interesting, and it’s also because cutting weight isn’t that easy over and over, year after year, so the biggest goal for me, maybe it’s Heavyweight title.