Vadim Nemkov has clearly proven himself to be the man to beat in Bellator’s light heavyweight tournament, following Friday night’s compelling title defense over Phil Davis.
Nemkov (14-3) is already Bellator’s 205-pound champion, but with bigger names in the promotion tournament, including Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Yoel Romero and Ryan Bader, it would be easy to overlook him. The 28-year-old Russian reminded the rest of the field of his talents on Friday in a five-round decision against Davis.
All three judges scored the championship game, which headed Bellator 257 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, ahead of Nemkov 48-47. The win marks Nemkov’s first defense of the light heavyweight title he won from Bader last August and takes him to the tournament’s semi-finals, where he will meet Johnson or Romero.
“My plan was to outsmart him and defend his struggle,” Nemkov said through an interpreter. “I’m quite happy with my performance, but I had mistakes. I’ll work on it next time.”
Nemkov, who trains under legendary Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko, looked great in the first three rounds. He blended his attack beautifully by attacking Davis’s lead leg with low kicks and his body and head with punch combinations. He dropped Davis with a left hook in the center of the cage in the third round.
Davis (22-6), seeking revenge on a very close 2018 split decision loss against Nemkov, turned the tide in the later rounds. He landed with an overhand close to the back of Nemkov’s ear, temporarily losing his balance and forcing him to withdraw for the first time in the fight. Davis built on that momentum in a heavily contested fifth round, but the 13-year veteran dug himself too deep into a hole early on. However, Davis’ remarkable statute of never ending up in combat remains intact.
For Nemkov, it expands his active win streak to eight in a row. He will discover his next opponent on May 7, when Johnson and Romero meet at Bellator 258. Both former UFC vets will make their Bellator MMA debuts.
Anderson advances to semifinals with dominant showing
Corey Anderson (15-5) has made no secret of his intention to take down and take out his opponents until someone stops him. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov could not stop him.
Anderson advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator MMA light heavyweight tournament by ending Yagshimuradov (18-6-1) via TKO at 2:15 of the third round. The win puts him in a match against former champion Ryan Bader, who beat Lyoto Machida in his opening round a week ago.
While fighting out of New Jersey, Anderson used his struggle to take down Yagshimuradov in the second and third rounds and neutralize his offense completely. The Turkmenistan-based fighter hunted a few home-run counter-attacks in the opening round, getting close to dropping Anderson with a spinning head kick, but eventually succumbed to wrestling quite early.
“I wasn’t hurt, I just got off balance,” said Anderson, on the head kick that seemed to stun him. “I said to Coach, ‘I’m fine, it didn’t shock me. But it took me out of where I was.’ I just kept my cool and made it to the next round. “
When Anderson started to hit Yagshimuradov on the ground, it quickly snowed for the former UFC veteran. He went to work with the elbows from above and went to full-mount at one point in the second round. Yagshimuradov looked very uncomfortable on his back, and it was only a matter of time before the referee had to intervene.
Anderson improves to 2-0 in the Bellator MMA cage.
Daley overcomes a rocky start and knocks Homasi in two
Paul Daley said he didn’t respect Sabah Homasi’s punching power during their 175-pound catchweight bout on Friday night – but it didn’t take long for that to change.
Daley (42-17-2) scored a TKO finish on Homasi (15-8) at 1:44 of the second round, but only after nearly getting knocked out himself in the opening minutes of the fight. Homasi, who trains from the US Top Team, rocked Daley with an early right hand and dropped him moments later with punches along the fence.
Referee Kevin Macdonald stayed on top of the action, but Daley, 38, did just enough to survive. After getting back to his feet, he hastily turned the tables and stunned Homasi with three unrequited knees in the clinch in the last minute of the opening round. The finish came quickly in the second, when Daley went off with straight rights and then a hard left hook.
“I haven’t given him the respect he deserves,” Daley said. ‘That kid can pop just as hard as [welterweight champion Douglas Lima]Looking back at my fights I don’t really get dropped and have been there with some of the best forwards. Much respect to Homasi. “
For Daley, who is fighting from Nottingham, England, it was his first appearance since October 2019.
Former title challenger Arteaga deserves nod about Yanez
Flyweight contender Veta Arteaga (6-4) managed to beat Desiree Yanez (5-3) by majority decision, despite a second round point deduction for an illegal knee.
Two judges scored the fight 29-27 for Arteaga, while a third had a 28-28 tie with the points deduction. Arteaga was docked with a point for throwing a knee at a grounded opponent, failing to see Yanez’s hand on the mat in a forward headlock position. However, Yanez did not have a serious knee injury and managed to continue driving after a short break.
Overall, it was Arteaga’s boxing that dictated the match as she maintained a constant string of insults at her feet. Yanez had her moments and mixed in a handful of takedowns, but just couldn’t score enough to beat Arteaga on the scorecards. Arteaga, who unsuccessfully challenged Ilima-Lei Macfarlane for the title in April 2019, broke a slip with two fights.