Bellator Champ Vadim Nemkov Considering Move to Heavyweight After Latest Win

Vadim
Nemkov added another high-profle name to his resume, as he took
a lopsided unanimous verdict against former UFC middleweitht title
challenger Yoel Romero
in the
Bellator 297 main event on Friday night.

“I’m very happy about this win,” Nemkov said at the Bellator 297
post-fight press conference. “It was very important to me. He’s a
great fighter. He’s a legend. He’s an Olympian, so to win over
somebody like him who was fighting with a lot of great fighters,
top fighters, it means a lot to me.”

Romero absorbed copious amounts of punishment in the bout, but his
durability carried him through to the final horn. “The Soldier of
God” had his best moment in Round 5, when he was able to take
Nemkov down, but other than that the most entertaining portions of
the contest occurred when the Cuban feigned being stunned by
stumbling around the cage.

Nemkov came away impressed by his opponent’s toughness.

“I was surprised about his head. It’s really strong. There was a
lot of great shots that I landed that I felt through the glove,”
Nemkov said. “It was kind of weird that he didn’t get injured or
anything. At the end of the second round I thought I got him, but
then I understood he was acting.”

Nemkov is unbeaten in his last 12 professional outings, and he now
owns notable wins over the likes of Romero, Corey
Anderson, Phil Davis
(twice), Ryan Bader,
Rafael
Carvalho, Liam
McGeary and Philipe
Lins. As it currently stands, there isn’t a clear No. 1
contender for Nemkov at 205 pounds. That has him pondering a move
up to heavyweight.

“I am one of the best light heavyweights in the world,” Nemkov
said. “I don’t think there’s any challenge for me in the light
heavyweight division, so I may try myself in heavyweight division
now, because there’s no one else to fight there.”