Former Bellator champion Vadim Nemkov is set to return to the cage after a 12-month hiatus.
The former champ vacated his light heavyweight title to move and face Bruno Cappelozza in the heavyweight division. Nemkov proved himself by scoring an impressive submission victory, but after this, the Russian took a step back and wasn’t seen in the cage for awhile. However, it seems he is set to make a grand return at PFL to face Tim Johnson.
Nemkov was initially slated to face PFL veteran Ante Delija, but the fighter suffered an injury and was replaced by Corey Anderson. The bout was scheduled to take place on January 25, but Nemkov says he never accepted the fight in the first place, and the bout was announced prematurely.
“We didn’t even consider him an opponent to begin with,” Nemkov told MMA Fighting. “But when it was announced, we talked to PFL. We asked them to renegotiate the contract, offer better money or ask for the contract to be for a title fight, let’s say, for the heavyweight division title with the belt on the line, but the PFL refused to do so.
“So that fight didn’t make any sense. You’ve been around for a while. You know, every fight has to make sense.”
Nemkov has faced Anderson twice in the cage, and the fighter believes there is no need for a third. Their first clash was declared a no-contest due to a nasty cut, and the rematch six months later ended with a unanimous decision win for Nemkov. He says he would rather face another opponent than Anderson unless PFL makes an interesting offer for the fight.
“Honestly speaking, it’s from the perspective of what I can get out of this fight,” Nemkov explained. “There’s nothing that I can gain from it. There was another fight that was offered to me, which we agreed on. The second fight [with Corey Anderson], the PFL announced the fight before we agreed to it. Afterwards, we started negotiating. Because there was a possibility that we would fight if the money was different, if the contract was different.
“I definitely showed all my skills. I think I declassified him in the second fight where he was extremely frustrated. He lost four rounds out of five. He got knocked down. I don’t think there’s anything for me to gain out of this fight. First of all, he’s not a heavyweight. He never fought at heavyweight. He’s not rated at heavyweight. So, there were more questions than answers with that fight. There was no point in that fight at all.”
“Honestly, if he would fight someone else and he would be in [the rankings], and it was going to be a fight with a belt on the line or something else that I could gain out of it, but at the moment, I [already beat] him,” Nemkov said. “It was a pretty easy fight. He likes to run his mouth, and he does it best. He [should] get prepared better next time.”
In a recent interview with MMA Knockout, the PFL heavyweight was asked about his future with Bellator and PFL.
“At some point, I understood, like when the PFL purchased Bellator we kind of knew that was going to happen one day, sooner or later.” Vadim Nemkov stated in the interview when asked about the closure of the brand. “It is a little bit sad and sentimental because I spent a lot of time, I was a champion there for a long time. So it’s kind of sad and exciting at the same time.”
“Yeah, I’m definitely not interested in the Grand Prix. I would prefer super fights, but I’m not sure what they’re going to offer me. But if it’s going to be [Francis] Ngannou, I’m ready. If they’re going to offer [Ryan] Bader or anybody else, [I’m ready].”
Nemkov says he is willing to stay on and even renew his contract if the promotion is willing to cut him a better deal than his current one.
Honestly, it all depends on the PFL,” Nemkov said. “If they’re going to give me good fights, good names, but I have to stay active. I can’t fight once a year. This is something I cannot afford to do. So if they’re going to give me good contracts, good names, I’m ready to stay.”
As a free agent, Nemkov will be allowed to pick his fights and choose any opponent but the fighter revealed he might be interested in joining the UFC.
“Of course, the UFC has a lot of great heavyweights that I would love to face,” Nemkov said. “It’s definitely exciting and it would definitely be something I would be interested in.”
He still has one more fight left in his contract–his bout with Tim Johnson– before he makes a decision.
