“I didn’t expect him to fall asleep.” Nemkov choked his first heavyweight opponent and flew to Russia

In August 2020 Nemkov became Bellator light heavyweight champion. The fighter defended his belt four times, won the $1 million Grand Prix and suddenly declared that he could no longer enter the limit of the 93 kg category. What was most troubling about this decision is that Nemkov isn’t very tall for a modern heavyweight. Simultaneously with Vadim’s move to a higher category, the Bellator league was bought by the PFL league, and even earlier, Francis Ngannou, former UFC champion and one of the most memorable heavyweights of our time, signed a contract with the PFL.

Certainly, Ngannou hasn’t fought in MMA for over two years and fights with some very famous boxers. But Nemkov’s heavyweight debut turned out to be such that he was and will be asked about the Ngannou fight. In the first round, Vadim demolished Bruno Capelozza with punches, and in the second he choked him with a hand triangle.

What this interview will be about:

—Did you manage to watch the recording of the fight?

— I haven’t examined it yet.

— You had a rather brutal end when your opponent lost consciousness after a choke.

“I didn’t expect him to fall asleep.” When they tapped me on the shoulder, I thought it was the opponent who had hit, and that it was the referee who had stopped the fight. And then I left, I looked, and his eyes [закатились], and then I realized I had strangled him. The doctors came out, the judge was there too. It was clear that they would bring us to our senses fairly quickly.

—Has it ever happened where you strangled someone until they passed out?

– Not in combat. There was an episode where I fought in Rizin – I finished him very hard on the ground, it took about five minutes to bring my opponent to his senses. But then the man fainted from the blow.

— You won with the arm triangle choke. When did you master it?

— At every training camp we hold grappling workouts, and there we often practice the triangle and show our chips. We come together – some from Moscow, some from Rostov, some from elsewhere – and everyone shows their strengths, and then we develop them.

— Relatively speaking, could you have done it in 2015, when you were doing sambo fights or amateurs?

– No, this did not happen in combat sambo. The jacket weighs everything down, it’s hard to do anything in it. Here, when the body is naked and the grip is good… For example, even now, when I was fighting, the opponent moved a little to the side and there he was, already buttoning himself very hard. But the density of the jacket is different and it is more difficult to perform this technique there.

– Are you good to Ezekiel?

– This is a difficult technique. I understand how it’s made, but I won’t use it in combat.

—Immediately after the fight you said that you lacked a little power. Was there a time when you felt like you hit well, but your opponent didn’t fall?

“I felt that I was hitting and I saw that my opponent was swimming. But yes, I want to increase my strength and work on it more. Yes, points accumulate, and when you hit a lot, they accumulate. But you have to hit in such a way that people fall after one or two hits.

— Were there any moments of anxiety for you?

– No, it wasn’t. When he kicked me, it turned out that he had gotten into my teeth, and by that time I was already pulling my head back. The only thing is the lip is cut. It’s just that when it hit, it decided I was swimming and flying to finish. And I started working not half-heartedly, but played it safe and entered the fight. And I finished the fight.

—You’re very good at straight punches, but why don’t you use uppercuts?

– I don’t know, we have to work on it. If he stopped in place and just blocked… Johnny Ablin fought after me: he walks away, puts his hands on his head and puts his head down, that’s when we can hammering uppercuts. And when a person is constantly moving, it’s good to catch up with a vaccine.

—You’re short, don’t you think that could be a problem? After all, your next potential opponent is Renan Ferreira, who is around 206 cm tall.

– He is big, but he has problems – he fights weakly. You can fight with everyone, the same Rizvan Kuniev defeated him by decision of the judges. You can fight with him, even though he has a good job to do.

— You were allowed to participate in this fight in Saudi Arabia with the Russian flag. When you competed in Bellator, you couldn’t go out with flags. Isn’t it true that now they also said that we should not do certain things, not say certain things?

— Indeed, when we fought in Bellator, flags were banned and we couldn’t talk about politics. But anyway, everyone understood it.

— In terms of atmosphere, where do you prefer to fight?

“The fighting here happened late, and at first there were still people there, but then they left, there were only a few people left. When I fought in Chicago, there was a full arena there, a different atmosphere. In Europe too, the room was full. In general, they support us everywhere, everyone treated us well.

— You dedicated this victory to “Saint Belogorye”. Explain this point?

— He dedicated the victory to his region to support the people. We now have a frontline area, maybe someone will like it.

— Belgorod airport is closed. How are you going to get there and what time do you plan to get home?

– By train. I have a ticket for 6 a.m., at 2 p.m. I will be in Belgorod.

— There is an opinion that if we take the regions of Central Russia, the Belgorod region in terms of infrastructure development is one of the best regions of Russia. You have been to the USA in many cities, Phuket, Milan, Saudi Arabia. Can you compare with your impressions of Belgorod?

— I can’t say that the quality of the roads is much lower. At the same time, one cannot compare Belgorod with a population of 500 thousand and, for example, New York or St. Petersburg. They are megacities. They should be compared with Moscow, and Belgorod is a small city where 400-500 thousand people live.

— Compare with Phoenix.

— I fought there, but I didn’t go out to Phoenix much, there’s nothing to see there. I love Belgorod. Our city is more densely populated, there are more cars driving. In America, in provincial towns, there are fewer cars and apparently fewer people.

— Are you now communicating with any of your colleagues (Nemkov served in the GRU special forces – editor’s note) who are in the combat zone?

– Yes. Is there anyone in contact? The guys worry about everything, just like I worry about them. It’s their job, and it’s my job. Of course it’s different, but I help as much as I can.

— How many days later do you see yourself at the gym?

“There are no injuries now, thank God.” I come home, spend a few days with my family, with the children, go jogging and swimming. I’m not going to sit still.

— Your teammate Valentin Moldavsky will participate in the PFL Grand Prix. And you?

— I won’t go to the Grand Prix precisely because Valek is there.

— So you continue to have solo fights?

— We hope so. Next week the organization will award the Grand Prix to the competitors, then there will probably be news from us. Maybe there will even be news when I go to the tournament with Valentin in April.

— Many are discussing your possible fight with Ngannou. Do you think that in America and Europe they perceive you as a rival to him? Relatively speaking, how do you rate your popularity in English-speaking countries?

– If we take it in terms of promotion, then maybe now, when I fought in the PFL, after all, I became one of those heavyweights who became more or less promoted. Even if you go to the page [в социальных сетях]…Plus, it seems to me that I’ve made a good statement about myself in the light heavyweight division. I think we are all on the same level: some more, others less.

— Do you think you will fight with him in 2024?

– To be honest, I don’t even know.

— Who do you think is the best Russian heavyweight currently?

– I do not know at all. Seryoga Pavlovich will probably be in first place, then Tolya Malykhin, then Sanya Volkov and Zhenya Goncharov. I will not field my team here.

— Will you support Anatoly Tokov in his fight against Magomed Ismailov?

— We’ll call Tolik and decide. Vasilich will probably be there (Alexander Vasilyevich Michkov, boxing coach – note from ). Maybe there will be someone from Dagestan, a coach. But there is also a limit there, there is no point in gathering ten people.

– But will you be at the tournament?

– Yes, I plan to come to the tournaments: the same week, Viktor (Nemkov, older brother – editor’s note) will fight there. I think I’ll go there.

— Islam Makhachev is gradually compared to Khabib, as a student. How do you think you respond to people when they compare you to Fedor Emelianenko? Do you have an answer to the question: who is the greatest?

– Ready. Fedor is bigger, he still has a lot of work and work to do.

— Which of his achievements would you like to repeat or get closer to?

“I would like to fight as long as possible, please the fans, glorify the country, prolong my sporting life. And of course I want to win.

Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.