Vadim Nemkov said he didn’t want to exact revenge for his mentor Fedor Emelianenko against Ryan Bader. But that he did at Bellator 244, taking the American’s light heavyweight title and pronouncing himself the No 1 205-pound fighter on the planet.
The 28-year-old Russian (12-2) secured a stunning second-round TKO at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, on Friday night. “The Last Emperor” – whom Bader beat in 35 seconds to win the heavyweight title last year – was left applauding in his corner.
Nemkov hurt Bader with a head kick early in the second round and swarmed him with ground and pound. The referee let it go on as the 37-year-old “Darth” (27-6) showed tremendous heart and grit to stay in the fight and get to his feet. But there was too much time left and once the former UFC star was clipped again and dropped, it was all over at 3:03 of round two.
Following Jon Jones’ move up to the UFC heavyweight ranks, and Daniel Cormier’s retirement, Bader had proclaimed himself as the greatest light heavyweight in the world going into the fight. But Nemkov crashed the party.
“I feel like with all the changes going on in the 205 division and the calibre of opponent I just beat, a two-time champ in two different weight classes, I feel like I’m No 1 right now,” Nemkov said. “I think to back up why I’m saying this, I didn’t just go through five rounds of a fight, I finished a top, top contender in decisive manner in two rounds.”
It was a close first round, Bader utilising his wrestling and taking Nemkov down with a single leg. But Nemkov defended it so well and seemed like he was better on the ground, and surprisingly Bader let him up.
Bader didn’t go back to his wrestling, despite saying before the fight that the one thing he couldn’t do was allow Nemkov to back him up, and that’s when he got in trouble.
“Yeah, that was my plan,” Nemkov said. “When I studied his film, I saw he doesn’t do very well when he’s backing up. The plan was to constantly move forward and it paid dividends.
“I hit him with the high kick then swarmed him with punches. I was surprised the referee let it go as long as he did. Obviously Bader is tough and he was trying to fight it, but I felt like this was the end of it. After a kick like that I was shocked he hung in there. That said, Bader hasn’t been knocked out in a long time so he can take punches.
Nemkov becomes the first Russian to hold a 205-pound belt in a major organisation, something that earned praise from the legendary Jones on social media.
“I want to thank him,” Nemkov said when told of Jones’ tweet congratulating him. “It means a lot to hear praise from such a legend as Jon Jones.
“It’s great to be the first Russian to do that, to be a part of history,” he added. “When I joined Fedor’s team I knew the responsibility is great. Fedor is our head instructor, so we are his pupils. For me it was very important to get this belt.
“Having Fedor in my corner just gives me great energy and the will to fight and impose my will and not to back down. All week I’ve been receiving messages of support from fans all over Russia. When I went out there to fight, I felt I had the whole of Russia in my corner.”
Nemkov said he expected to fight the winner of Phil Davis vs Lyota Machida next, insisting new Bellator signing Corey Anderson shouldn’t get to skip the queue just because he’s coming over from the UFC.
“My message is simple: I’m ready to fight anybody. I will accept the challenge from any worthy opponent,” he said.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kwLG70a1mppmiqbaiuIyaqa2rX6K2ubHDZqSaqqSerq15wKurrGeRp8Gqr8ueZmxoaW2BdIGOm5ylpJGpvLN5kW1rZp6Vmbyzec%2Brpq2dl5p6t63DoqRmppWiuLDCjK2iqKs%3D