Vadim Nemkov has clearly established himself as the man to win in the Bellator heavyweight tournament, following Friday night’s convincing defense against Phil Davis.
Nemkov (14-3) is already Bellator’s 205-pound champion, but with top names in the promotion tournament, including Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Yoel Romero and Ryan Bader, it would be easy to overlook. The 28-year-old Russian recalled his talents to the rest of the field on Friday, however, in a five-round decision on Davis.
The three judges marked the fight for the championship, which was titled Bellator 257 inside the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, by Nemkov 48-47. The victory marks Nemkov’s first defense of the light heavyweight title he won against Bader last August and puts him in the semifinals of the tournament, where he will face Johnson or Romero.
“My plan was to overcome him and defend his wrestling,” Nemkov said through an interpreter. “I’m pretty happy with my performance, but I’ve made mistakes. I’m going to work on it next time.”
Nemkov, who trains with the legendary Russian Russian Fedor Emelianenko, looked excellent in the first three rounds. He mixed his offense very well, attacking Davis ’main leg with low kicks and his body and head with combinations of punches. He dropped Davis with a left hook in the center of the cage in the third round.
Davis (22-6), who was looking to avenge a split decision loss very close to Nemkov starting in 2018, changed gear in later rounds. He landed right at the back of Nemkov’s ear which temporarily took away his balance and forced him to start retiring for the first time in the fight. Davis continued to build on that momentum in a hotly contested fifth round, but the 13-year veteran dug too deep into a hole at first. However, Davis’ remarkable statistic of never ending in a fight remains intact.
For Nemkov, he extends his active streak of victories to eight in a row. He will discover his next opponent on May 7, when Johnson and Romero will meet at Bellator 258. The two former UFC veterans will make their Bellator MMA debuts.
Anderson advanced to the semifinals with dominant display
Corey Anderson (15-5 years old) has made no secret of trying to bring down his opponents and bring them down until someone stops him. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov could not stop him.
Anderson advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator MMA heavyweight tournament by finishing Yagshimuradov (18-6-1) via TKO at 2:15 of the third round. The win turns it into a showdown against former champion Ryan Bader, who defeated Lyoto Machida in his first part of the round a week ago.
Fighting out of New Jersey, Anderson used his wrestling to knock down Yagshimuradov in the second and third rounds and completely neutralize his offense. The Turkmen native native hunted down a few counterattacks at home in the first round, and was about to leave Anderson with a rotating header, but eventually succumbed to the fight quite soon.
“It didn’t hurt me, I just unbalanced it,” Anderson said, at the headache that seemed to stun him. “I said to the coach,‘ I’m fine, he didn’t shake me. But it got me out of where I was. “I just kept calm and got to the next round.”
Once Anderson started bringing Yagshimuradov to the ground, things quickly collapsed for the former UFC veteran. He went to work from the top position with his elbows and moved to a full point in the second round. Yagshimuradov’s knee will be throbbing for days, but thankfully for FC, he bravely continued in the match.
Anderson improved to 2-0 in the Bellator MMA cage.
Daley overcomes a dirty start and eliminates Homasi in two
Paul Daley said he didn’t respect Sabah Homasi’s fist power in his 175-pound heavyweight fight on Friday night, but it didn’t take long to change that.
Daley (42-17-2) scored a TKO over Homasi (15-8) in 1:44 of the second round, but only after he was nearly eliminated in the first minutes of the fight. Homasi, who enters the American Top Team, shook Daley with his early right hand and dropped him moments later with punches along the fence.
Referee Kevin Macdonald stayed right at the top of the action, but Daley, 38, did enough to survive. After getting back on his feet, he hurriedly turned the tables, stunning Homasi with three unanswered knees on the court in the final minute of the first round. The final came quickly in the second, as Daley scored with straight rights, then a hard left hook.
“I didn’t give him the respect he deserved,” Daley said. “This guy can hit as hard as [welterweight champion Douglas Lima]. If I look back on my struggles, I don’t fall for it and I’ve been there with some of the best strikers. Much respect to Homasi. “
For Daley, who is fighting outside of Nottingham, England, it was his first appearance since October 2019.
The former Arteaga title challenger gets a nod to Yanez
Flyweight candidate Veta Arteaga (6-4) managed to beat Desiree Yanez (5-3) by majority decision, despite a one-time deduction in the second round for an illegal knee.
Two judges scored the fight 29-27 for Arteaga, while a third got a 28-28 draw with points deduction. Arteaga got a point for throwing a knee at a landed opponent as he didn’t see Yanez have a hand on the mat in a head-to-head position. Yanez, however, did not hurt his knee and managed to continue after a brief pause.
In general, it was Arteaga’s boxing that dictated the fight, as he maintained a constant chain of offense at his feet. Yanez had his moments and mixed with a handful of withdrawals, but failed to score enough to beat Arteaga on the scoreboard. Arteaga, who unsuccessfully challenged Ilima-Lei Macfarlane to win the title in April 2019, launched a two-fight slip.