PHOENIX – Vadim Nemkov didn’t think Corey Anderson would be walking away with a first-round stoppage at Bellator 268.
The Bellator light heavyweight champion was surprised to see Anderson put away current heavyweight title holder Ryan Bader just 50 seconds into their light heavyweight grand prix semifinal bout at Saturday’s event. Nemkov (14-2 MMA, 7-0 BMMA), who defeated Julius Anglickas in the headlining bout of the card, expected the fight between Anderson and Bader to go much more differently.
“I didn’t expect the fight to be so short,” Nemkov told reporters through an interpreter at the Bellator 268 post-fight news conference. “I expected them to do a lot more wrestling and possibly going to distance.
“I just started warming up and then the fight was over, wow. It kind of sucks my fight went four rounds, and his was one minute, but hopefully Bellator will wait for me to recover fully and allow me to prepare for the final. I still intend to win the grand prix.”
After defending his title against Anglickas, Nemkov is expected to take on Anderson for the Bellator light heavyweight and grand prix titles and a $1 million bonus. The location and date for the championship bout have yet to be announced.
Nemkov is confident he’ll be able to fare well against Anderson given some of his previous challenges. However, the Russian admits he’s not really sure how the fight will play out, as he knows little of Anderson.
“I honestly haven’t followed Corey Anderson’s career,” Nemkov said. “I have no idea who he fought or what his fights look like. I just saw him here in Bellator. I don’t know how the fight is going to go. Maybe I’ll feel differently afterwards, but for now the one person that was the toughest fight and I never want to fight again is Phil Davis.”
Vadim Nemkov surprised by Corey Anderson’s 50-second TKO win over Ryan Bader
