Vadim Nemkov’s reign of dominance in Bellator continues.
The reigning Bellator light heavyweight champion demolished replacement challenger Julius Anglickas to successfully defend his belt with a fourth-round kimura submission Saturday night in the main event of Bellator 268, which took place in the Footprint Center in Phoenix.
After being stunned early in the opening round with an Anglickas punch, Nemkov came alive, and the rest of the fight quickly turned into one-way traffic.
Nemkov (15-2) really seized momentum in Round 2, when he tripped Anglickas (10-2) to the floor and then went to work with big punches and elbows from top position, including one particularly nasty elbow that sliced Anglickas open and sent blood pouring all over the canvas. Nemkov used a blast double-leg to put Anglickas back onto the canvas in the opening seconds of Round 3 and nearly secured two different armbars, but Anglickas again survived to the horn.
Nemkov’s double-leg takedown again greeted Anglickas at the beginning of Round 4, and this time, the Russian champion finished the job, working to side control, trapping his foe’s right hand while blasting him with punches, then ripping control of the fight-ending submission.
Nemkov remains undefeated in Bellator with a 7-0 record and has won nine consecutive fights in his current streak.
Next up for Nemkov will be the only other man standing in the bracket, Corey Anderson, who made a thunderous statement with a 51-second knockout of Ryan Bader in the night’s co-main event. Anderson (16-5) blasted Bader (28-7) with a nasty overhand right behind the ear, then pounded out the Arizona product with a quickness to extend his perfect Bellator record to 3-0 and advance into the finals of the light heavyweight grand prix.
After finishing just three of his 10 victories in the UFC, Anderson has now notched KO/TKO stoppages in all three of his bouts under the Bellator umbrella.
