Born: June 20, 1992 (Age: 30) in Belgorod, Russia
Division: Light Heavyweight
Height: 6’0”
Reach: 76”
Record: 15-2 (7-0 Bellator)
Association: Alexander Nevsky
Stage of Career: Prime
Summary: Nemkov is a significant threat in the striking and
grappling departments while also being exceptionally difficult to
exploit in those two areas. He has fast hands, along with a
fantastic jab and right cross, nailing opponents again and again
with his one-two. Nemkov also has quick, technical kicks to all
parts of the body and has stopped one unfortunate opponent with leg
kicks. He features excellent defense, too. Nemkov has proven
exceptionally hard to hit, with a fairly tough chin and solid
recuperative powers. He can only be described as a beast when it
comes to grappling, as he can get takedowns from the clinch or the
shot and can do so with ease against most opponents. Once on the
mat, he unleashes some sublime ground-and-pound, obliterating his
adversaries with a series of fast, powerful and accurate punches he
fires at a ridiculous rate. Meanwhile, Nemkov is insanely difficult
to take down. With that said, he is far from perfect. He sorely
lacks a left hook, and his uppercut provides little pause for those
pitted against him. His top control is surprisingly limited, and
while his cardio holds up across three rounds, he tires badly in
the fourth and fifth periods of championship fights. Still, it
takes a world-class opponent to take advantage of Nemkov’s
shortcomings.
STRIKING
• Stance: Orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Above average.
• Jab: A darting, quick, straight and technical strike.
• Cross: Surgical, precise and textbook shot with legitimate
knockout power. He turned off
Philipe
Lins’ lights with it.
• Left Hook: Weak. Often a harmless arm punch.
• Overhand Right: Tends toward being an overly wild casting punch,
but he does not use it much.
• Uppercuts: Average at best. He often throws it way too far in
front of his body, and it lacks some power.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: More of a one-shot sniper,
but he makes good use of the combinations he throws.
• Favorite Combinations: The one-two, which combines his two best
punches.
• Leg Kicks: Well-timed, hard and fast. He stopped
Liam
McGeary with them.
• Body Kicks: Solid, especially the front kick to the body.
• Head Kicks: Shows nice flexibility, suddenness and speed with
them, but they lack the kill-shot power to make them truly
special.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: Occasionally.
Nemkov’s striking provides intrigue. He has fairly fast hands, a
strong jab and an outstanding right cross, which he puts together
into a highly effective and accurate one-two. He also has an array
of nice kicks, including front kicks, and uses lighter shots to
bait opponents forward. Nemkov can chain kicks to punches, go
upstairs with head kicks and even stop opponents with leg kicks.
However, he lacks a left hook. It is his weakest punch, and he does
not event put his body into it at times. His uppercuts are also
lacking. However, Nemkov features textbook footwork, excellent ring
movement and generally outstanding defense, including a good sense
of range and head movement. He is quite difficult to hit.
CLINCH
• Physical Strength: A massively powerful light heavyweight who can
outmuscle almost anyone in the weight class.
• Technique: Stellar. Quick at positioning his body and going for
possible takedowns.
• Knees: A viable weapon, but he mostly focuses on takedowns.
• Elbows: Does not throw them in close quarters.
• Defense Against Knees/Elbows: Any opponent who throws them runs
the risk of being taken down.
Nemkov is beastly in terms of physical strength and grappling in
the clinch. He works for judo throws there, and opponents would be
wise to defend themselves rather than looking for their own
offense.
GRAPPLING
• Wrestling from a Shot: Features a technical double-leg on
reaction to an opponent’s strikes, along with an outstanding
single-leg.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Works for judo throws and trips, and he
normally gets them.
• Takedown Defense: Can quickly switch to fighting for underhooks
no matter the situation. He even turned defense into offense by
taking McGeary down off his own attempt. He has fought a slew of
accomplished wrestlers and managed to nullify
Phil Davis
and
Ryan
Bader.
Corey
Anderson did manage to execute a few of them.
• Ability to Return to Feet: Serviceable under most circumstances,
as he is able to hip escape and use his physical strength to get
back up. However, an opponent with good top control late enough
into a fight when Nemkov is tired can keep him down, as the first
Anderson fight proved.
• Submissions: Sound. He scored a rear-naked choke on
Rafael
Carvalho, but he prioritizes ground-and-pound, so the depth of
his tool bag is difficult to judge.
• Defense/Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Holds up to
scrutiny, though Anderson managed to score against him from the
top.
• Top Control: Often limited, especially since he postures up so
much to strike.
• Ground-and-Pound: Rises to a world-class level. He throws a
series of fast, brutal, hammer-like punches with volume and
accuracy. Nemkov has knocked out multiple opponents on the mat,
some of them quickly. See:
Alison
Vicente.
Nemkov is an absolute monster in the grappling department. Few
opponents can resist his efforts there, as he can secure takedowns
with ease from either a shot or in the clinch. Once on top, he
lacks some control, but opponents had better use that to their
advantage. Why? Because he has some of the best ground-and-pound in
the sport, unleashing a vicious series of fast punches that
seemingly never end. Nemkov is tremendously difficult to take down.
Once on the bottom, he can absorb some ground-and-pound if he lacks
the necessary energy to get back up.
INTANGIBLES
• Athleticism/General Physical Strength: A fast, athletic and
massively strong fighter.
• Cardio: Excels in three-round fights but drifts into average
territory in five-round affairs. He dominated the first three
rounds of his rematch against
Phil Davis,
for instance, but he was noticeably winded for the last two, which
“Mr. Wonderful” came back to win.
• Chin: He has taken some massive shots without being knocked out,
though he was clearly hurt.
• Recuperative Powers: A positive to this point. He managed to
recover fairly quickly after eating a crushing blow from
Julius
Anglickas.
• Intelligence: Conducts all of his fights in a smart, patient
manner, all while executing some brilliant set-ups. He always seems
to maximize his chances while limiting the strategic efforts of his
opponents.