Vadim Nemkov

Vadim Aleksandrovich Nemkov (Вадим Александрович Немков; born 20 June 1992) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist and a four-time Combat Sambo World Champion.

He currently competes in the Heavyweight division of Bellator, where he is the former Bellator Light Heavyweight Champion.

As of June 20, 2023, he is #1 in the Bellator men's pound-for-pound rankings.

Nemkov is the younger brother of Viktor Nemkov and is a protégé of the MMA Heavyweight and Sambo master Fedor Emelianenko.

He is ranked #1 in the 205 division by sherdog.

Vadim was born on June 20, 1992.

Many sources contain information that he is a native of Belgorod, but this is not at all the case.

His family began their life journey in a small village in Kazakhstan, where they lived until 1999, after which he, his brother Viktor and his parents moved to the village of Tomarovka, Belgorod Region.

It was here that Nemkov's sports path began.

In all endeavors, Vadim followed his older brother Viktor.

At the Tamarov school, they began to attend the judo section, then hand-to-hand combat attracted their attention, and only after that it was the turn of sambo, where both brothers reached great heights and received a good sports base.

During the period of study at the school, Nemkov managed to participate in many competitions in sambo and other disciplines.

Almost all of his youth was spent at a high pace, learning, discovering new things in sports.

At the time of graduation, Vadim was drafted into the army.

He himself admits that there was an opportunity not to go there, but there was not even a thought about it.

Due to the fact that the guy himself was strong and well physically developed, he was called up for service in the special forces.

Nemkov notes that the army gave him additional knowledge, both in the sports component and in life in general.

The hardening he received there helps him to enter the cage against any opponent without any fear.

At the moment, Vadim has 2 educations.

As part of mixed martial arts, Nemkov made his debut on May 31, 2013.

The technical knockout that knocked out Magomed Datsiev brought victory to Vadim.

Less than a month later, on June 27, he also defeated Andrei Trufaikin by TKO.

The next were the Pole Michal Gutovskiy (10-3 at the time of the fight) and the Romanian Isidor Bunea, who generally appeared in professional MMA for the first and last time - they lost in the first round.

Between 2014 and 2019, he took the gold 4 times at the World Sambo Championships 100 kg class, and after that he said that he would not waste his time on such competitions in the future and would devote himself entirely to MMA.

As a result, having gained a series of 4 early victories, already in 2015 Vadim was signed to Rizin.

In November 2015, the Japanese fight promotion – and successor to Pride Fighting Championships – Rizin Fighting Federation announced the brackets for a Heavyweight Grand Prix to be held on December 29 and 31.

It was announced Nemkov would make his Rizin debut against Goran Reljic.

He won the bout by knockout in the first round, advancing to the semi-finals 2 days later.

In the semi-finals on December 31, Nemkov faced Jiří Procházka, losing via retirement due to being too exhausted at the end of the first (10 minute) round.

Nemkov returned to face Karl Albrektsson on April 16, 2016, at Rizin 1.

He lost the fight via split decision.

After a fight in Russia for Fight Nights Global, Nemkov again competed in Rizin against Alison Vicente on December 29, 2016, at RIZIN FF WGP 2nd round.

He won the fight via TKO in the first round.

On June 17, 2016, Nemkov fought Mikołaj Różanski on the Fight Nights Global 50: Emelianenko vs Maldonado card in St. Petersburg, Russia.

He won the fight via TKO in the first round.

He received the first at the Technological University of Belgorod, having received a diploma in the specialty "Personnel Management", and the second, already in 2017, at BelSU, with a degree in "Coach".

During this entire period of time "army-training", Nemkov actively participated in the Russian, European and world championships in combat sambo, where in most cases he took gold.

On August 25, 2017, Nemkov made his Bellator debut against Philipe Lins at Bellator 182.

He won the fight by knockout in the first round.

In his second bout for the promotion, Nemkov faced former Bellator Light Heavyweight champion Liam McGeary at Bellator 194 on February 16, 2017.