For a clear advantage: how Nemkov won the Bellator Grand Prix, and Nurmagomedov won the lightweight title

Initially, the Bellator tournament in Chicago was supposed to include six fights at once with the participation of the Russians.

And although due to injuries and problems at the weigh-in, their number was reduced to four, the main stars remained in business.

Vadim Nemkov was preparing to show that he had worked on his mistakes and crush Corey Anderson in the light heavyweight Grand Prix final.

And Usman Nurmagomedov is to follow in the footsteps of his cousin Khabib by winning the title in a major American promotion.

True, he had to do this in not the most simple conditions.

As it became known the day before, the ex-UFC champion had expired a US visa, as a result of which he could neither take part in the final stage of preparing a relative for one of the most important fights in his career, nor be in his corner during it.

And that could be an important factor.

Indeed, until now, Khabib accompanied Usman in all his fights under the auspices of Bellator, and his presence next to him was extremely important not only from a psychological, but also from a sports point of view.

Nurmagomedov Sr. could not only support his partner, but also give the most important advice right during the duel.

Suffice it to recall how he helped Makhachev force Dan Hooker to surrender.

Nurmagomedov's position was also complicated by the fact that he had no previous experience of fighting tops.

Yes, the Russian went on a series of four victories, but none of his previous rivals were in the top ten at the time of the meeting and certainly were not on the same level as the current belt holder Patrick Freire.

And it was extremely difficult to predict whether he would look just as confident in the confrontation with an experienced Brazilian or break under the pressure of skeptics.

After all, many rightly believed that he received a chance to compete for the trophy primarily thanks to the big name and patronage of the legendary brother.

And although at first there was excitement in Nurmagomedov's actions, he quickly got used to the cage and clearly showed the difference in class.

If in the first round he preferred to keep Freire, who was noticeably inferior to him in anthropometry, at a distance and use his kickboxing skills, then in the second he showed wrestling skills.

And Patricky was not ready for this.

A spectacular pass to the legs allowed Usman not only to spend three minutes in a position on top, but also almost helped him win ahead of schedule.

At the end of the segment, he brought down a hail of blows on the Brazilian's head, and only a gong saved him from defeat.

As it turned out later, this episode demoralized Freire.

For the remaining 15 minutes, he did not dare to rush forward and take Nurmagomedov by surprise.

For the entire fight, the champion never managed to break through to close range and only continued to take one accurate kick after another, and the difference in grappling seemed to be colossal.

Another confirmation of this appeared in the fifth round, when Usman, who wanted to remove all questions, again laid Patricky on canvas, effortlessly climbed into a full mount and almost took his neck.

The Brazilian looked absolutely helpless, and his attempt to hit the Russian who started celebrating before the gong looked like a gesture of desperation.

As a result, one judge gave Nurmagomedov all five rounds, and two were even more generous and saw the applicant's total superiority in one of the segments.

Usman prevailed by unanimous decision and at the age of 24 won the Bellator lightweight title.

What pleased Khabib, who called via video link.

Unlike his compatriot, Nemkov could count on the support of his mentor.

Fedor Emelianenko came to Chicago and had the opportunity to second the pupil, but this did not make the Russian's chances of success seem noticeably higher.

In April, he already met with Anderson and experienced tremendous problems, only miraculously retaining the belt.

He failed the first two rounds, lost in the third, and only the negligence of the enemy saved him.

Due to the clash of heads, the fight was declared invalid, and Vadim was given a second chance to defend the belt and along the way get a million dollars for winning the Bellator Grand Prix.

As Vadim himself said, the preparation for this duel was different from the previous ones.

He spent part of it at the Tiger Muay Thai gym in Thailand, where Petr Yan and Anatoly Malykhin also train, after which he went to the American Top Team.

And it turned out to be the right decision.

This time, Nemkov looked much more confident: he did not allow Anderson to use his skills in the fight and interrupted in the standing position along the way.

And although most of the blows were not the most accentuated, at the end of the first segment he almost knocked out his opponent.

The crushing "turntable" knocked the American off his feet, but it did not work out.

Anderson desperately tried to pick up the keys to Nemkov, but this time he looked rather faded.

Yes, he put pressure, sometimes he hit and even cut the skin under the champion's eye, but he did not have the advantage.

And the reason for that was the lack of successful takedowns.

For all five rounds, he never managed to knock Vadim to the canvas, although he made 15 attempts at once.

The Russian defended himself very confidently and continued to record accurate hits at his own expense.

It cannot be said that Nemkov dominated Anderson, but in most rounds he was better and more accurate, reinforcing this with vivid episodes.

In the second, he struck a great backhand in the exchange, in the fourth - he hit with a kind of superman punch, and with a low kick he almost knocked the ground out from under his opponent's feet, and in the final he again got him with his right.

And although Vadim himself received some damage, Corey got much more.

This was clearly evidenced by the blood that flooded the right half of his face.

The verdict of the judges was natural.

All three sided with Nemkov, although one gave him just one more round than Anderson.

One way or another, Vadim defended the belt for the third time and took the upper hand in the Grand Prix.

And after the fight he met with his future opponent.

As it became known the day before, it will be UFC veteran Yoel Romero.

“I have prepared well.

There were no pitfalls.

He developed a very high speed, against which he could not do anything.

This was the secret of success.

As I said, I always win in a rematch if you don’t believe in me… I wanted to keep him on the jab, knowing that he leans heavily on his front leg.

Wanted to break it.

Sometimes he connected the right one, but he holds the blow well.

Therefore, it was not possible to dump him, ”Nemkov summed up.

Also in Chicago, two other Russians successfully debuted.

Timur Khizriev confidently dealt with the seventh number of the featherweight division, Daniel Vaikhel, and Imamshafi Aliyev coped with Sean Connor Fallon.

In the first round, the American opened a deep cut, which is why the doctor decided to stop the fight.