CHICAGO – Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov walked away from his last bout with the title, but not in a manner anyone anticipated.
In April at Bellator 277, Nemkov (15-2 MMA, 7-1 BMMA) faced Corey Anderson in the final of the light heavyweight grand prix. After an accidental clash of heads in the third round that caused a nasty cut on Nemkov’s forehead, the bout was stopped and declared a no contest.
Although Nemkov won the first round on all scorecards, Anderson (16-5 MMA, 3-1 BMMA) began pulling ahead in the fight after taking control with his wrestling game. The champ believes he knows why that happened, and why it won’t happen again when they meet in the main event of Bellator 288 at Wintrust Arena.
“I didn’t really learn anything new in the time that we fought, because everything that I already knew about him he displayed,” Nemkov told reporters through an interpreter at Wednesday’s media day. “We know that he has really good wrestling, good ground control. He’s got good endurance and is very durable. So, I prepared for that for the first fight, and I’m preparing the same way for the second fight.
“There were some factors in the first fight that attributed to my decline. Because I started out pretty well in the first round, actually on the scorecards, I think it was even going into the third round. Then the decline happened and it’s largely because my camp was very long. The date (of the fight) kept changing, and I just kept staying in this peak shape. I feel like I peaked before the fight date, so on the fight date, I was kind of already exhausted.”
This time, Nemkov believes there will be no fatigue in the wrestling game, something that Anderson said he was surprised by in their first meeting in April.
During his media day interview, Anderson said Nemkov was strong defensively when he shot for his first takedown, but when he got to his second and third attempts, the defense and power were almost gone.
“That’s not a factor now,” Nemkov said about being exhausted. “I had the right camp, the right time to prepare, it’s happening on a date I was training for. So, I think you will see a different performance from me.”
Nemkov became the Bellator light heavyweight champion by knocking out Ryan Bader at Bellator 244 in August 2020. He has since defeated Phil Davis by unanimous decision and Julius Anglickas by submission before the no contest result against Anderson.