Vadim Nemkov really wanted a degree, but Yoel Romero simply refused to walk away.
Despite his disappointment at not scoring a knockout, Nemkov still pulled off a masterful play in which he bested Romero for almost 25 minutes en route to a unanimous decision win in the Bellator 297 main event. While Romero showed great stamina, his offense was narrowly absent, and that allowed Nemkov to tee off in most exchanges.
When the fight was over, all three referees gave the fight a 49-46 for Nemkov, who retained his light heavyweight title with the win.
“I’m very proud to share the octagon with a legend like Romero tonight,” said Nemkov. “It was a tough fight. He’s a very tough opponent. It’s very difficult to turn him off.
“I saw that he was acting a little and I just went ahead and did my job. I tried to land all the shots from a distance but he has a very hard head.”
Nemkov immediately went on the attack as he pursued Romero with unbridled aggression, delivering a nasty shot in the lead and constantly trying to headbutt the ball. Romero, who normally delights in opponents willing to pursue him, has been unusually inactive with Nemkov square in the face.
It was a well-considered game plan from Nemkov, who threw out the first left hands and then followed up with powerful rights behind. His speed and power gave Romero a headache as the Olympic silver medalist struggled to catch him.
Again and again, Nemkov was just a lot more active as he started picking Romero apart on his feet. On the other hand, Bellator stats showed that Romero had only thrown 10 strikes by the end of the second round.
Nemkov continued to attack Romero with several hard shots that caused the Cuban to slam into the cage and only hold up his hands to deflect the punches. To his credit, Romero actually blew up towards the end of round three and caught Nemkov’s attention, although he still didn’t do much to turn the tables in his favor.
Romero also tried to goad Nemkov into a wild slugfest by pretending that he was shaking or hurting himself, but Romero could never get the champion to bite.
Even on the rare moments when Romero got a little busier, Nemkov didn’t view him as a major threat, instead continuing to stab him with jabs and unleash a powerful right hand that always found a home. By the end of the fourth round, Romero’s right eye was almost closed from the repeated punches he was taking thanks to Nemkov.
Although Romero managed a late takedown, it was too little and too late as Nemkov earned a comfortable win after five rounds.
Nemkov has now defended his Bellator light heavyweight title four times, adding to the record he already held for promotion, and he remains one of the most dominant athletes on the entire roster. The only issue Nemkov might face right now is finding the right competition to challenge him after he has already beaten all the top 205lb contenders at Bellator.
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