Deep cut due to head collision: Nemkov's fight with Anderson declared invalid

The fight between Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson was preceded by not the most pleasant events.

At first, the promotion took a principled position and did not show the Russian flag when the current champion was announced, and a day before the start of the 277th tournament, it announced the termination of broadcasting in Russia.

Thus, domestic fans of mixed martial arts lost the opportunity to watch the finals of the Grand Prix in light heavyweight, which only increased the level of concern about its outcome.

Although there were enough reasons for concern.

Less than a week ago, the battle between Peter Yan and Algemain Sterling ended, which was remembered in many respects by an ambiguous judicial decision.

In an extremely equal fight, most of the judges sided with the champion, which became a kind of wake-up call for many Russian fighters, including Nemkov.

Vadim himself expressed the opinion that the political moment helped the American to gain the upper hand, and in the current conditions, the Russians need to win either for a clear advantage or ahead of schedule.

However, to accomplish this in a fight with Anderson seemed like a daunting task.

He was on a series of three victories in a row and, although not considered a favorite, had a high chance of success.

In addition, his skill set made him an extremely uncomfortable opponent for Nemkov.

If in the standing position Vadim could dominate due to a richer arsenal and volume, then in the stalls everything could not be so clear.

Corey had a wealth of wrestling experience behind him, in 2012 he won the silver of the third division of the NCAA championship, and subsequently successfully used his skills in MMA.

Not without reason, two years after leaving, he is still the leader of the UFC light heavyweight division in the number of takedowns (53), ahead of Rashad Evans, Ryan Bader and Jon Jones.

However, in the first round, Nemkov prevented Anderson from showing his strengths.

The current champion confidently kept his distance and generally looked sharper.

Already in the first seconds, he knocked down the opponent with a chopping low kick, and in the remaining time he continued to shower him with blows.

Yes, Vadim obviously did not pursue the goal of knocking out Corey at all costs in the starting segment and worked rather for the future, but even this seemed enough to win over the judges to his side.

The Russian was stronger, and neither the blood that appeared on his face, nor the small spurt of the American at the end of the five-minute period should have been misleading.

The first round became a kind of reconnaissance, once again forcing to draw a parallel with the battle between Ian and Sterling.

And in the second, there were even more reasons for this.

Anderson immediately grappled with Nemkov in the clinch, pressed him to the net and confirmed the title of UFC record holder.

The one-leg pass became sharp and unexpected and allowed Corey to immediately be in half guard.

Vadim immediately tried to improve his position and achieved his goal, but failed to get to his feet.

Over the next three minutes, Anderson dominated the ground, but could not cause serious damage to Nemkov.

Yes, from time to time he attacked with hammerfists and elbows, but the champion dodged in time and changed his position, and at the end of the segment he took advantage of the challenger's mistake and managed to regain a vertical position.

Corey went for broke and tried to get into a full mount, but Vadim effectively twisted and got behind his opponent.

True, the Russian did not manage to perform anything significant and lost the round.

The next five minutes turned out to be even more discouraging for the pupil of Fedor Emelianenko.

He again could not prevent the American from throwing himself on the canvas, but this time he missed much more.

Moreover, the situation became close to critical after Nemkov recklessly threw a guillotine, while not having control over his counterpart's body.

Physically strong Anderson easily escaped the hold and ended up behind Vadim.

He again got out of a difficult situation and closed the guard, but began to miss one blow after another.

The elbow that slashed the Russian turned out to be especially powerful.

The key episode occurred 12 seconds before the gong.

Anderson tried on a major note to complete the segment and break through another blow, but miscalculated.

The fist passed by, and Corey's forehead flew right into Vadim's left eyebrow.

A deep cut formed over his left eye, which the Russian immediately pointed out to the referee, former UFC fighter Frank Trigg.

He summoned a doctor to the cell, who only needed a couple of seconds to recognize Nemkov as unable to continue the duel.

At first, there were fears that he would be awarded a defeat by technical knockout.

In any case, this is what American commentators thought, and Anderson himself was confident of success.

He hastened to apologize to the enemy, but was clearly ready to accept congratulations.

However, Vadim and his team did not agree with this outcome and began to prove that the cut was not the result of a missed blow, but an unintentional headbutt.

And this was already a reason for recognizing the fight as invalid.

The well-known referee in the past, and now Bellator commentator John McCarthy quickly figured out the situation and called the decision to award the victory to Anderson wrong.

And after consulting with the head of the California State Athletic Commission (CSAC) Andy Foster, Trigg also took this position.

The judge alternately announced this first to the Russian, and then to the American, causing an uproar in him.

And this is not surprising.

By this point, Corey had already received congratulations from his manager Ali Abdelaziz and other members of the team.

And we have to admit that Nemkov was a little lucky.

According to the rules, if the fight is stopped after most of the distance has passed, it can no longer be recognized as failed, and the winner is determined on the basis of the referee's notes.

At the end of two rounds, there was a draw on the cards, but the third segment would certainly have been given to Anderson.

And this threatened Vadim with the loss of not only the belt, but also the defeat in the Grand Prix, therefore, the loss of $ 1 million. After the end of the battle, the American also drew attention to this, noting that a few seconds saved the Russian from defeat. 

However, the duel between Nemkov and Anderson was still declared invalid, and the light heavyweight Grand Prix was not completed.

Vadim retained the belt, but in the near future he will be forced to meet his opponent again.

In the meantime, the Russian has received enough food for thought, and the American has proved that he can safely be considered one of the most dangerous opponents in his career.