Vadim Nemkov says “It would be wrong” for Corey Anderson to get immediate title shot
Fresh off of winning the Bellator light-heavyweight championship, Vadim Nemkov feels Corey Anderson is undeserving of being his first challenger.
Anderson, a former UFC light-heavyweight title contender, signed with Bellator on Aug. 7. A winner of four of his last five fights, Anderson is coming off a first-round knockout loss to Jan Blachowicz back in February.
Although “The Ultimate Fighter” season 19 light-heavyweight winner holds an extensive resume, Nemkov feels there are more deserving candidates in the light-heavyweight division. Specifically, Phil Davis and Lyoto Machido, who are set to rematch in the Bellator 245 headliner on Sept. 11.
“The situation is a little unclear right now, Machida is fighting Phil Davis, so I would expect probably the winner of that,” Nemkov said.
“I know Corey Anderson just got signed, I feel like it would be wrong for him to get a title shot because he is coming over from the UFC. I feel like he should have a fight before that. At the end of the day, I will fight whoever they put in front of me.”
Vadim Nemkov knows his place
Nemkov already holds a split-decision win over former champion Phil Davis at Bellator 209 in November 2018. Davis is looking to sweep Machida in September after earning a unanimous decision over “The Dragon” back at UFC 163 in 2013.
Anderson’s most recent defeat ended the second-longest win streak of his career. He earned three-straight decision victories over Patrick Cummins, Glover Teixeira and Ilir Latifi. He followed up with a first-round TKO over Johnny Walker at UFC 244 this past November.
Nemkov’s victory over Bader not only makes him the king of Bellator’s light-heavyweight division, but puts him in the conversation of the best 205-pound fighter in the world.
Jon Jones vacated his UFC light-heavyweight strap as he made a potential move to heavyweight. With the exit of Jones at 205 pounds, Bellator President Scott Coker will put his light-heavyweight division up against anyone.
Nemkov is on top of it.
“When Jon Jones move sup to heavyweight, clearly, we have the best division,” Coker said. “When I think about Phil Davis, Nemkov, Bader and with Corey Anderson on board now, we’re going to have a fun time fighting these guys and getting some great fights out of them. I still feel the same way, that we have the best 205-pound light-heavyweight division in MMA right now.”
