Vadim Nemkov has clearly established himself as the man to win Bellator’s lightweight tournament after convincingly defending Phil Davis’ title on Friday night.
Nemkov (14-3) is already Bellator’s £ 205 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 recalled on Friday, however, the rest of the field, in a five-round decision on Davis.
All three judges scored the championship game, which headlined Bellator 257 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, for Nemkov 48-47. Victory marks Nemkov’s first defense of the light heavyweight title he won from Bader in August last year and advances him to the semifinals of the tournament, where he will meet Johnson or Romero.
“My plan was to overcome him and defend his fight,” Nemkov said through an interpreter. “I’m pretty happy with my performance, but I’ve had mistakes. I’ll work on them next time.”
Nemkov, who trains under the legendary Russian Fedor Emelianenko, looked remarkable in the first three rounds. He mixed his attack nicely, attacking Davis’ leg with small blows, and his body and head with fist combinations. He left Davis with a left hook in the center of the cage in the third round.
Davis (22-6), who sought revenge for a very close loss of split decisions against Nemkov in 2018, changed the tide in subsequent rounds. He landed with his hand over Nemkov’s ear, which temporarily threw him off balance and forced him to begin retreating for the first time in battle. Davis continued to rely on that momentum in a highly contested fifth round, but the 13-year veteran dug too deep out of a hole at first. However, Davis’ remarkable status of never ending in a fight remains intact.
For Nemkov, he extends his series of active victories to eight in a row. He will find out his next opponent on May 7, when Johnson and Romero will meet at Bellator 258. Both former UFC veterinarians will make their Bellator MMA debuts.
Anderson advances to the semifinals with a dominant show
Corey Anderson (15-5) made no secret that he intends to take his opponents and beat them until someone stops him. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov could not stop him.
Anderson advanced to the semifinals of the Bellator MMA tournament slightly, finishing Yagshimuradov (18-6-1) by TKO at 2:15 of the third round. Victoria moves him into a match against former champion Ryan Bader, who defeated Lyoto Machida in his opening match a week ago.
Fighting from New Jersey, Anderson used his fight to bring down Yagshimuradov in the second and third rounds and to completely neutralize his offense. The Turkmen native hunted down a few counterattacks in the opening round and was close to leaving Anderson with a rotating header, but eventually succumbed to the fight quite early.
“I wasn’t hurt, I just got out of balance,” Anderson said in a header that seemed to amaze him. “I told the coach, ‘I’m fine, he didn’t shake me. But he took me out of where I was. “I kept calm and made it to the next round.”
Once Anderson began to bring Yagshimuradov to the ground, things quickly settled for the former UFC veteran. He went to work from the top with his elbows and moved to a full point in the second round. Yagshimuradov was uncomfortable with the soggy pitch as he couldn’t move the ball around with his usual grace.
Anderson improves to 2-0 in the Bellator MMA cage.
Daley overcomes the tough start, eliminating Homasi in two
Paul Daley said he did not respect Sabah Homasi’s punching power in the 175-pound fight on Friday night – but it didn’t take long for that to change.
Daley (42-17-2) scored a TKO final over Homasi (15-8) at 1:44 of the second round, but only after he was almost eliminated in the opening minutes of the fight. Homasi, who trains from the American Top Team, shook Daley with his early right hand and dropped a few moments later with his fists along the fence.
Referee Kevin Macdonald remained at the top of the action, but Daley, 38, did just enough to survive. After getting to his feet, he turned the tables in a hurry, astonishing Homasi with three unanswered knees in the last minute of the opening round. The end came quickly in the second, as Daley came out straight, then with a hard left hook.
“I didn’t give him the respect he deserved,” Daley said. “That child can beat as hard as [welterweight champion Douglas Lima]. Looking back on my struggles, I don’t give up and I was there with some of the best strikers. Much respect to Homasi. “
For Daley, who is fighting in Nottingham, England, it was her first appearance since October 2019.
The former Arteaga title challenger wins over Yanez
Veta Arteaga (6-4), competitor at the wheel, managed to overtake Desiree Yanez (5-3) by a majority decision, despite a punctual deduction in the second round for an illegal knee.
Two judges scored the fight 29-27 for Arteaga, while a third had a 28-28 draw with the point deduction. Arteaga was anchored at one point because she threw a knee to a grounded opponent because she did not see Yanez with one hand on the carpet in the front position. However, Yanez was not seriously injured in the knee and managed to continue after a short break.
In general, it was Arteaga’s boxing that dictated the fight, as she maintained a consistent line of offense on her feet. Yanez spent his moments and got involved in a handful of eliminations, but simply couldn’t score enough to beat Arteaga on scorecards. Arteaga, who unsuccessfully challenged Ilima-Lei Macfarlane for the title in April 2019, launched a skid in two fights.