Vadim Aleksandrovich Nemkov (russian: Вадим Александрович Немков; born 20 June 1992) is a Russian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA), sometimes referred to as cage fighting, no holds barred (NHB), and ultimate fighting, and originally referred to as Vale Tudo is a full-contact combat sport based on striking, grappling and ground fighting, incorpo ...

and a four-time

Combat Sambo , aka = Sombo (in English-speaking countries) , focus = Hybrid , country = Soviet Union , pioneers = Viktor Spiridonov, Vasili Oshchepkov, Anatoly Kharlampiev , famous_pract = List of Practitioners , olym ...

World Champion. He currently competes in the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight, also referred to as junior cruiserweight or light cruiserweight, is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruis ...

division of Bellator, where he is the current Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion. As of May 10, 2022, he was #2 in the Bellator men's pound-for-pound rankings. Nemkov is the younger brother of Viktor Nemkov and is a protégé of the MMA Heavyweight and Sambo master

Fedor Emelianenko Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko ( rus, Фёдор Влади́мирович Емелья́ненко, r=Fyodor Vladimirovich Yemelyanenko, p=ˈfʲɵdər vlɐˈdʲimʲɪrəvʲɪtɕ jɪmʲɪˈlʲjænʲɪnkə, IPA; born ...

. He is currently ranked as the #1 Light Heavyweight in the world by Sherdog.com.

Background

Vadim was born on June 20, 1992. Many sources contain information that he is a native of Belgorod, but this is not at all the case. His family began their life journey in a small village in Kazakhstan, where they lived until 1999, after which he, his brother

Viktor The name Victor or Viktor may refer to: * Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname Arts and entertainment Film * ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film * ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...

and his parents moved to the village of Tomarovka, Belgorod Region. It was here that Nemkov's sports path began. In all endeavors, Vadim followed his older brother

. At the Tamarov school, they began to attend the judo section, then hand-to-hand combat attracted their attention, and only after that it was the turn of sambo, where both brothers reached great heights and received a good sports base. During the period of study at the school, Nemkov managed to participate in many competitions in sambo and other disciplines. Almost all of his youth was spent at a high pace, learning, discovering new things in sports. At the time of graduation, Vadim was drafted into the army. He himself admits that there was an opportunity not to go there, but there was not even a thought about it. Due to the fact that the guy himself was strong and well physically developed, he was called up for service in the special forces. Nemkov notes that the army gave him additional knowledge, both in the sports component and in life in general. The hardening he received there helps him to enter the cage against any opponent without any fear. At the moment, Vadim has 2 educations. He received the first at the Technological University of Belgorod, having received a diploma in the specialty "Personnel Management", and the second, already in 2017, at BelSU, with a degree in "Coach". During this entire period of time "army-training", Nemkov actively participated in the Russian, European and world championships in combat sambo, where in most cases he took gold. Between 2014-2019, he took the gold 4 times at the World Sambo Championships 100 kg class, and after that he said that he would not waste his time on such competitions in the future and would devote himself entirely to MMA.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

As part of mixed martial arts, Nemkov made his debut on May 31, 2013. The technical knockout that knocked out Magomed Datsiev brought victory to Vadim. Less than a month later, on June 27, he also defeated Andrei Trufaikin by TKO. The next were the Pole Michal Gutovskiy (10-3 at the time of the fight) and the Romanian Isidor Bunea, who generally appeared in professional MMA for the first and last time - they lost in the first round. As a result, having gained a series of 4 early victories, already in 2015 Vadim was signed to Rizin.

Rizin Fighting Federation

Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix 2015

In November 2015, the Japanese fight promotion–and successor to

Pride Fighting Championships PRIDE Fighting Championships (Pride or Pride FC, founded as KRS-Pride) was a Japanese mixed martial arts promotion company. Its inaugural event was held at the Tokyo Dome on October 11, 1997. Pride held more than sixty mixed martial arts eve ...

–

Rizin Fighting Federation Rizin Fighting Federation (Rizin FF or Rizin) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. Rizin was founded to be the sp ...

announced the brackets for a Heavyweight Grand Prix to be held on December 29 and 31. It was announced Nemkov would make his Rizin debut against Goran Reljic. He won the bout by knockout in the first round, advancing to the semi-finals 2 days later. In the semi-finals on December 31, Nemkov faced

Jiří Procházka Jiří Procházka (; ; born October 14, 1992) is a Czech mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. He was the ...

, losing via retirement due to being too exhausted at the end of the first (10 minute) round.

Rizin 1

Nemkov returned to face

Karl Albrektsson Karl Albrektsson ( sv , Karl Albrektsson, (born September 27, 1993), is a Swedish mixed martial arts fighter, competing in the Light Heavyweight division of Bellator MMA. He has been performing at a professional level since 2012, and he is als ...

on April 16, 2016 at Rizin 1. He lost the fight via split-decision.

Rizin Fighting Word Grand Prix 2016: Second Round

After a fight in Russia for Fight Nights Global, Nemkov again competed in Rizin against Alison Vicente on December 29, 2016 at , RIZIN FF WGP 2nd round. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Fight Nights Global

Fight Nights Global 50: Emelianenko vs Maldonado

On June 17, 2016, Nemkov fought Mikołaj Różanski on the Fight Nights Global 50: Emelianenko vs Maldonado card in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

. He won the fight via TKO in the first round.

Bellator MMA

On August 25, 2017, Nemkov made his Bellator debut against Philipe Lins at Bellator 182. He won the fight by knockout in the first round. In his second bout for the promotion, Nemkov faced former Bellator Light Heavyweight champion Liam McGeary at Bellator 194 on February 16, 2017. He won the fight via TKO due to leg kicks in the third round. Nemkov again faced a former Bellator Light Heavyweight champion in Phil Davis on November 15, 2018 at Bellator 209. He won the closely contested bout via split decision. In the beginning of 2019, Nemkov signed a new, multi-fight contract with Bellator MMA. As the first fight of the contract, Nemkov faced former Bellator middleweight champion Rafael Carvalho at Bellator 230 on October 12, 2019. Nemkov won the bout via submission in the second round.

Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion (2020-present)

After racking up four straight wins in Bellator, three of which against former Bellator titleholders, Nemkov was signed to challenge

Ryan Bader Arizona State Sun Devils Ryan DuWayne Bader (born June 7, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist currently signed to Bellator MMA where he is the current Bellator Heavyweight Champion, the former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion, an ...

at Bellator 242 on May 9, 2020 for the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship. However, it was later announced that Bellator 242 and Nemkov's bout against Bader was being postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. The bout with Bader was rescheduled and took place on August 21 at Bellator 244. Nemkov won the bout via second-round technical knockout to capture the Bellator Light Heavyweight title. On February 9, 2021, it was announced that Nemkov would be defending the Bellator Light Heavyweight title in the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament. It was announced that Nemkov would make his first title defense against Phil Davis, a rematch of their November 2018 bout, which saw Nemkov win via split decision. The bout took place at Bellator 257 on April 16, 2021. Nemkov won the bout via unanimous decision, with Nemkov controlling the first three rounds on the feet. In the semi-finals of the Grand Prix, Nemkov was scheduled to face Anthony Johnson on October 16, 2021 at Bellator 268. On September 18, it was announced that Johnson was pulled from the Grand Prix due to an undisclosed illness and he was replaced by Julius Anglickas. Nemkov dominated the fight with wrestling and ground and pound, eventually winning via submission in round four. In the finals of the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix Tournament, Nemkov took on Corey Anderson for the 205-pound title as well as the $1 million prize on April 15, 2022 at Bellator 277. The fight ended in a no contest after an accidental clash of heads resulted in a cut on Nemkov's left brow that rendered him unable to continue. The rematch of the finals took place on November 18, 2022 at Bellator 288. Nemkov was able to stop all the takedowns of Anderson, going 16 for 16, and picked Anderson apart from distance on the way to defending his belt and winning the $1 million prize for winning the Grand Prix via unanimous decision. Nemkov was scheduled to defend his title against

Yoel Romero Yoel Romero Palacio (born April 30, 1977) is a Cuban professional mixed martial artist and former freestyle wrestler. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division for Bellator MMA. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight divis ...

on February 4, 2023 at Bellator 290. However, Nemkov forced to withdraw due to undisclosed reason and the bout was scrapped.

Personal life

Nemkov served in the 16th

Spetsnaz Spetsnaz are special forces in numerous post-Soviet states. (The term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or .) Historically, the term ''spetsnaz'' referred to the So ...

Brigade in 2010. Since 2015, he has been married to a woman named Yekaterina Nemkova. Together they have one daughter.

Championships and accomplishments

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media conglomerate Paramount Glob ...

** Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship (One time, current) ***Three successful title defenses ** Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix *

** 2015 Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinalist

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Win , align=center, 16–2 (1) , Corey Anderson , Decision (unanimous) , Bellator 288 , , align=center, 5 , align=center, 5:00 ,

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San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...

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, Italy , , - , Win , style="text-align:center;" , 11–2 , Phil Davis , Decision (split) , Bellator 209 , , style="text-align:center;" , 3 , style="text-align:center;" , 5:00 ,

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, Israel , , - , Win , align=center, 10–2 , Liam McGeary , TKO (leg kicks) , Bellator 194 , , align=center, 3 , align=center, 4:02 ,

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 9–2 ,

Philipe Lins Luiz Philipe Lins Pimentel do Amaral (born August 17, 1985) is a Brazilian mixed martial artist, who competes in the light heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He won the 2018 Professional Fighters League heavyweight tou ...

, KO (punches) , Bellator 182 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:03 ,

Verona, New York Verona (called ''Te-o-na-ta-le'', "''pine forest''" by the Haudenosaunee) is a town in southwestern Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 6,293 at the 2010 census. The town was named after Verona, Italy. Verona is located s ...

, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 8–2 , Alison Vicente , TKO (punches) , RIZIN FF WGP 2nd Round , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:55 ,

Saitama, Japan is the capital and the most populous city of Saitama Prefecture, Japan. Its area incorporates the former cities of Urawa, Ōmiya, Yono and Iwatsuki. It is a city designated by government ordinance. Being in the Greater Tokyo Area and lyin ...

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, Japan , , - , Loss , align=center, 6–1 ,

, TKO (retirement) , RIZIN WGP Part 2: Iza , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 10:00 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 6–0 , Goran Reljić , TKO (punches) , RIZIN WGP Part 1: Saraba , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:58 ,

, , - , Win , align=center, 5–0 , Joaquim Ferreira , KO (punch) , Plotforma S-70 6th , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:22 , Sochi, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 4–0 , Isidor Bunea , TKO (submission to punches) , SOMMAF: Steel Battle 2 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:00 ,

Stary Oskol Stary Oskol ( rus, Старый Оскол, p=ˈstarɨj ɐˈskol) is a city in Belgorod Oblast, Russia, located south of Moscow. Population: It is called Stary Oskol (Old Oskol) to distinguish it from Novy Oskol (New Oskol) 60 km south. B ...

Belgorod Oblast Belgorod Oblast (russian: Белгоро́дская о́бласть, ''Belgorodskaya oblast'') is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Belgorod. Population: History At the turn of the 17th ...

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Michał Gutowski , TKO (punches) , Alexander Nevsky MMA: Liberation , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 4:32 ,

, Russia , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Andrei Trufaikin , TKO (punches) , RadMer 4: 2 Round , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:29 ,

Sterlitamak Sterlitamak ( rus, Стерлитама́к, p=stʲɪrlʲɪtɐˈmak; ba, Стәрлетамаҡ, translit=Stärletamaq; ) is the second largest city in the Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, located on the left bank of the Belaya River (Kama's ...

Bashkortostan The Republic of Bashkortostan or Bashkortostan ( ba, Башҡортостан Республикаһы, Bashqortostan Respublikahy; russian: Республика Башкортостан, Respublika Bashkortostan),; russian: Респу́блик� ...

, , - , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Magomed Datsiev , TKO (ground and pound) , Way Of The Warrior 3 , , align=center, N/A , align=center, N/A ,

Tambov Tambov (, ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna and Studenets Rivers, about south-southeast of Moscow. Population: 280,161 ( 2010 Census); 293 ...

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References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nemkov, Vadim Living people 1992 births Light heavyweight mixed martial artists Russian sambo practitioners Russian male mixed martial artists Bellator male fighters Mixed martial artists utilizing sambo Mixed martial artists utilizing judo People from Belgorod Sportspeople from Belgorod Oblast