Vadim Nemkov retained his Bellator light heavyweight title with a dominant win over the previously unbeaten Ryan Bader.
Bellator 268: Vadim Nemkov claims dominant win to retain light heavyweight title
With this victory, Nemkov now has a professional record of 15 wins and two defeats.
Vadim Nemkov, the Bellator light heavyweight champion, overcame an early scare to retain his championship in dominating manner at Bellator 268.
When Julius Anglickas – a last-minute substitute for quarter-final winner Anthony ‘Rumble’ Johnson – downed the champion with a huge right hand within the first 90 seconds of the fight, the crowd at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona, believed they were going to see a shock.
But for the rest of the fight, it was one-way traffic as Nemkov, 29, recovered quickly and continued to control the action until he forced Anglickas to submit to a Kimura armlock with 35 seconds left in the fourth round.
“I was grabbed, but not knocked down. I simply kind of collapsed, “After the battle, he explained.
“Because he has a strong head, I gravitated more toward grappling. After a few excellent photos, I realized it wasn’t going to happen, so I settled for submissions.”
After failing to force the tap using armbars, Nemkov revealed the secret of his submit finish by switching tactics on his opponent.
“I attempted a few of armbars, but he kept sliding and climbing on top of me,” he said.
“So I figured, next time, I’ll pretend to go for an armbar and then transition to a Kimura.”
Nemkov’s win increased his record to 15 wins and two defeats, solidifying his position as the man to beat in Bellator’s talented 205lb category.
The Stary Oskol native also advanced to the final of the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix, where he will compete for the tournament championship against former UFC challenger Corey ‘Overtime’ Anderson.
Anderson defeats Bader by TKO to go to the tournament final.
Anderson’s victory in Bellator was his third in a row.
Anderson advanced to the event final after a fast TKO finish of current heavyweight champion and former 205lb king Ryan Bader in the night’s first light heavyweight grand prix semi-final.
Anderson, 32, had said before the bout that he had preferred the better of the exchanges when the two had trained together earlier in their careers.
Anderson followed up his pre-fight confidence with a spectacular performance on fight night, finishing the former two-division champion in only 51 seconds to earn a spot in the grand prix final, where he will compete for the light heavyweight championship.
“It’s fantastic. For all I’ve gone through and done, I’m grateful “After his win, Anderson told Bellator bout commentator John McCarthy.
“Man, you’ve seen my career. With three bouts on the regional circuit, I’ve been at the top, and making it here is really a gift.
“However, since Ryan is one of my friends, I despise the fact that we had to fight and that it had to happen this way, but someone had to lose.”
Primus demands a championship chance following Henderson’s victory.
Primus avenged his loss to Islam Mamedov at Bellator 263 by defeating Henderson.
After defeating former UFC lightweight champion Benson Henderson, former Bellator lightweight champion Brent Primus requested the first championship chance at the new 155lb champion.
Primus, 36, displayed his power on the mat, dominating Henderson, 37, and threatening Henderson with submissions throughout the fight.
Primus was unable to reach the finish line in the end, but the former champion claimed he was in pole position to compete for the championship again after scoring 29-28, 30-27, 30-27.
At Bellator 270 in Dublin on November 5, Ireland’s Peter Queally and Brazil’s Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire will fight for the vacant lightweight championship, and Primus stated after his victory over Henderson that he was the obvious top contender to face the winner.
“Hell, yeah,” he said, before agreeing to fight for the championship on short notice next month.
“Scott Coker, [Bellator president] – I’ll be here if Queally pulls out of contenders like he usually does, or if Patricky gets hurt. I’m the boss. Next week, I’ll fight.
“If not, why not? Hey, I’m waiting in line. Allow me to eliminate any of those individuals. I’m going to annihilate them.”
Corrales is back to his former featherweight and form.
In the night’s first fight, featherweight contender Henry ‘OK’ Corrales defeated Ukrainian Vladyslav Parubchenko by unanimous decision to get closer to a championship opportunity at 145 pounds.
Corrales’ most recent fight saw him descend to 135 pounds and compete in the bantamweight division. However, after losing by submission to Johnny Campbell at Bellator 258 in May, the American decided to return to his native weight class.
Back at 145 pounds and fighting in his adoptive hometown of Phoenix, Corrales, 35, was booed to the rafters by the crowd as he improved with each round against Parubchenko, 28, earning scores of 30-27 on all three judges’ scorecards to improve his career record to 19 wins and six defeats.
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