Vadim Aleksandrovich Nemkov (; born 20 June 1992) is a Russian professional

mixed martial artist Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting sport based on striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-stylistic contests took place t ...

and a sambo competitor. He currently competes in the

Heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

division of the PFL. He formerly competed in the

Light Heavyweight Light heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Professional In professional boxing, the division is above and up to , falling between super middleweight and cruiserweight (boxing), cruiserweight. The light heavyweight class has ...

division of

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) was an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebney and operated until 2025. The promotion takes its name from ''wikt:bellator, bellātor ...

, where he was the longest-reigning Light Heavyweight World Champion. Nemkov is the younger brother of Viktor Nemkov and a protégé of the heavyweight MMA and sambo master

Fedor Emelianenko Fedor Vladimirovich Emelianenko; (born 28 September 1976) is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist (MMA), sambist, judoka and politician. Emelianenko was the PRIDE Heavyweight Champion from 2003 to th ...

Background

Vadim was born on June 20, 1992. Many sources contain information that he is a native of Belgorod, but that is not true. His family began their life journey in a small village in Kazakhstan, where they lived until 1999, after which he, his brother Viktor and their 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 Viktor. 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 physically well 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 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 "army-training", Nemkov actively participated in the Russian, European and world championships in combat sambo, where in most cases he took gold. Between 2014 and 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 even ...

–

Rizin Fighting Federation Rizin Fighting Federation (stylised in all caps and also known as Rizin FF) is a Japanese mixed martial arts organization created in 2015 by the former Pride Fighting Championships and Dream Stage Entertainment president Nobuyuki Sakakibara. ...

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 professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion a ...

, 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 (born September 27, 1993) is a Swedish mixed martial arts fighter, competing in the Light Heavyweight (MMA), Light Heavyweight division. He has been performing at a professional level since 2012, and he is also known for his part ...

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, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. 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 faced another 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

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

Ryan Bader Ryan Bader ( ; born June 7, 1983) is an American mixed martial artist who competes in the Heavyweight division of RIZIN. He previously competed for Bellator MMA where he was the Bellator Heavyweight Champion, and still holds the record for th ...

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 and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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 who currently competes in the Light Heavyweight division. Romero formerly competed in the Middleweight division of the Ultimate ...

on February 4, 2023, at

Bellator 290 ''Bellator 290: Bader vs. Fedor 2'' was a mixed martial arts event produced by Bellator MMA that took place on February 4, 2023, at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, California, United States. The card aired live on CBS and Paramount Plus, the first ti ...

. However, Nemkov was forced to withdraw due to undisclosed reason and the bout was scrapped. In January 2023, Bellator announced that it had signed a multi-year, multi-fight contract with Nemkov. The fight with

was rebooked and eventually took place on June 16, 2023, at Bellator 297. Nemkov won the fight via unanimous decision.

Move to Heavyweight

On January 17, 2024, Nemkov announced that he was vacating the Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship and moving up to Heavyweight. Nemkov faced 2021 PFL Heavyweight champion Bruno Cappelozza on February 24, 2024, at PFL vs. Bellator. He won by arm-triangle submission in the second round. After Ante Delija withdrew for unknown reasons, Nemkov was scheduled to face Bellator Light Heavyweight World Champion Corey Anderson in a heavyweight bout for their third meeting on January 25, 2025 at Bellator Champions Series 6 (also marketed as ''PFL Road to Dubai: Champions Series''). However, on December 15, Anderson stated that the fight was off because he is "too tough of a fight" for Nemkov., and Nemkov instead faced Timothy Johnson. He won the fight via a rear-naked choke submission in the first round.

Personal life

Nemkov served in the 16th

Spetsnaz SpetsnazThe term is borrowed from rus, спецназ, p=spʲɪtsˈnas; abbreviation for or 'Special Purpose Military Units'; or () are special forces in many post-Soviet states. Historically, this term referred to the Soviet Union's Spet ...

Brigade in 2010.

Championships and accomplishments

Bellator Light Heavyweight World Championship (One time) ***Five successful title defenses **Most consecutive Light Heavyweight title defenses in Bellator MMA history (five) ** 2021 Bellator Light Heavyweight World Grand Prix winner ** Generic_belt_icon

PFL vs. Bellator Champion of Champions Super Belt (One time) *

** 2015 Rizin World Grand Prix Semifinalist

Mixed martial arts record

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Goran Reljić Goran Reljić (born 20 March 1984) is a Croatian mixed martial artist and bare knuckle boxer. A professional MMA competitor who began his career in 2004 and most recently competed in 2020, he has fought for the UFC, RIZIN, and KSW. Mixed mart ...

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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 Sportspeople from Belgorod 21st-century Russian sportsmen