SAN JOSE, California—
Vadim
Nemkov will awaken Friday morning in a clean and comfortable
hotel room. The Russian light heavyweight will then be free to do
whatever he typically does on fight day before defending the
Bellator
MMA light heavyweight title against
Corey
Anderson in the
Bellator 277 co-main event on Showtime.
The winner receives $1 million on top of his regular fight purse to
go with plaudits as one of the top 205-pound fighters in mixed
martial arts. As the Bellator light heavyweight grand prix
concludes, this is all part of the prize package for which the
tournament participants have competed during the past 12 months.
Glory. Money. Recognition. Everything Nemkov, who turns 30 in June,
could want out of his mixed martial arts career is there for the
taking.
“This grand prix is again something I want to keep part of my
legacy. I take it very seriously,” the Russian said Monday in Los
Angeles. “I want to win beautifully against a good opponent, so
this is my chance.”
Nemkov’s chance comes 51 days after Russian President Vladimir
Putin launched an invasion of Ukraine. The protégé of Russian
legend
Fedor
Emelianenko is not alone among professional fighters from his
country who have competed since Russia moved militarily on its
neighbor. Nemkov is just the latest example.
After traveling to the United States in advance of Friday’s fight
at the SAP Center, Nemkov, whose visa is good through the end of
2022, fielded numerous questions about a war that resulted in a
cascade of global consequences, including assertions from the top
of the American government regarding genocide and war crimes
perpetrated by the Russians against the Ukrainian civilian
population.
“I can imagine he’s going to be very careful how he answers because
he has to go back to his homeland,” Bellator President Scott Coker
said. “He’s going to be under scrutiny if he does say
something.”
That does not alter the fact that as Russians continue to ply their
trade in combat sports following the invasion on Feb. 24, the vast
majority of Ukrainian fighters have not been so fortunate. Nemkov’s
fellow Bellator champion, welterweight
Yaroslav
Amosov, was scheduled to defend his title on May 13 in London
but pulled out of the bout a couple weeks ago to focus instead on
safeguarding his family and his country.
“Like the rest of the world, we’ve been shocked by the tragic
events in Ukraine, and the thoughts of everyone at Bellator MMA are
with Yaroslav and all the Ukrainian people during this time,” Coker
said in a statement in March. “We wish he and his family the best
and look forward to seeing him return safely to happier times, both
inside and out of the Bellator cage.”
Amosov was in Thailand preparing for his first title defense
against challenger
Michael
Page when the conflict broke out. He informed Bellator
officials that he would pause his camp to move his family out of
harm’s way.
“I think he took them out of the country,” Coker said. “He said he
would let us know if he was going back to Thailand, but he called
us and said he’s not coming back. He was going to stay there and
fight the Russian army. He asked for us to say a prayer.”
Earlier this month, a social media post showed Amosov retrieving
the Bellator championship belt that his mother hid in a basement of
a home for safekeeping. The video made Coker speechless.
“It really hit me,” the promoter said. “The picture of him and his
squadron holding the belt up, you can see how much it means to
these guys. It was really a touching moment.”
Nemkov, meanwhile, was secluded in the Russian mountains as he
trained for Anderson, a 16-5 veteran who departed the
Ultimate Fighting Championship to sign with Bellator in 2020 as
a Top 5 light heavyweight.
“Corey is a very strong fighter,” Nemkov said. “He did not come
from the UFC as champion. He’s just a regular fighter, so there’s
nothing super specific that he brings with him. He’s just a regular
fighter, and I plan on beating him.”
Seeking his 10th consecutive victory, Nemkov (15-2) said the war
“hasn’t really affected me that much” in terms of preparation. “The
war has affected me emotionally. I try not to watch the news but,
again, all over the news terrible things have happened.” Nemkov, a
Russian army veteran, spoke through an interpreter provided by
Bellator. He indicated that he has also avoided news reports about
Ukraine after traveling to the U.S.
“I am very happy to represent Russia,” he said. “Obviously, I am
Russian. I will always stick to it. As I said, I want the fighters
to be treated like fighters and not any political subject. Again,
sports should stay out of politics.”
On this point, Coker is aligned with Nemkov.
“Personally, I feel sports should not involve politics,” Coker
said. “It’s unfair. These guys don’t want this. There’s nobody from
Team Fedor saying we want this. Nobody is supporting [the war] from
the people I talk to, but they’re in a tight spot. They have no say
in the matter. They just kind of have to go with it, and that’s
what you’re seeing over there.
“Hopefully this war ends, because none of the people I talk to in
Russia want this war,” he added. “Seriously. They’re not about
that. They want to move on.”
The current conflict scuttled plans for a Bellator event in July at
Moscow’s Red Square, which took more than a year to negotiate with
the Russian government. It would have served as Emelianenko’s final
appearance as an MMA fighter. The iconic former
Pride Fighting Championships heavyweight titleholder is
expected to speak with Coker in San Jose this weekend about other
options. However, if the war widens, Coker admitted it could make
using Russian fighters exceedingly difficult.
“I don’t think I’ll ever go back to Russia on a business front,” he
said.
While Nemkov responded to the questions that were posed to him
about the war, Amosov has been altogether silent beyond social
media. Despite repeated requests, the 28-year-old combat sambo
specialist from Irpin, Ukraine, has not spoken with the press since
taking up arms against the Russians. No headlines. No fights. No
paydays. No glory—not the kind Nemkov will pursue in the cage in
California, at least.
When asked how it feels knowing that he can fight while Amosov was
forced to withdraw from his upcoming bout, Nemkov expressed thanks
to Bellator for the opportunity.
“For Amosov,” said Nemkov, “I send my condolences to him that all
of this is going on on his ground.”