Another fight weekend is here, baby, and we love to see it. The next couple of days features a big Bellator show on DAZN and Paramount Network on Friday night and a UFC card on ESPN, along with an LFA show that you can find if you dare to tread the waters of the horrific UFC Fight Pass app.
Here are the three fights I’m going to be watching closest this weekend:
Ryan Bader vs. Vadim Nemkov, Bellator 244
On Friday night, we’ll be treated to a sight rarer than than the Yeti, rarer than the colossal squid, and rarer than a Seth Rollins promo that doesn’t bore me out of my mind. After almost three years, we’re finally seeing Ryan Bader defend his Bellator light heavyweight title.
The former UFC contender jumped to Bellator in 2017 and won the championship in his first fight, narrowly beating fellow UFC defector Phil Davis. In November of that year, he defended his title against Englishman Linton Vassell by TKO, and since then has pursued adventures at heavyweight.
Bader’s always been a pretty thickly built guy at 205, and his strength and punching power has played up to the larger division. Here he is knocking out the legendary Fedor Emelianenko with a left to become a two-division champion last January:
Not a great night for your boy, one of the 15 people left on this Earth who still reveres Fedor. Before that, Bader used his wrestling to overwhelm Matt Mitrione, who has always fought near the heavyweight limit, having little trouble repeatedly taking down the much larger man.
Through it all, Bader’s been fighting consistently between 225-230 pounds. He hasn’t had to cut weight, and he’s been able to operate at the peak of his physical performance. Now, with a major test coming up in the fast-rising sambo master Vadim Nemkov, he’s had to dust off the old weight-cutting routine, and oof… looking a little drawn-out there, champ.
The man is so zapped that he can barely even flex properly. That visual is a little troubling, especially considering he’s gonna need some juice to beat Nemkov, a Fedor protege who has won four sambo world championships over the previous decade.
Nemkov signed with Bellator in 2017 and has since faced a tough road: current UFC heavyweight Philipe Lins and three consecutive former Bellator champions in Liam McGeary, Phil Davis and Rafael Carvalho. He’s gone 4-0 with three finishes, and very much looks like the future of the Bellator light heavyweight division.
Nemkov is yet another powerful Soviet Bloc grappler out of the powerful Soviet Bloc grappler factory, who mixes punishing wrestling with some sharp and heavy striking. He absolutely bullied Carvalho in his last time out, piecing him up with punches and kicks before taking him down, getting his back and locking in a rear naked choke in the second round. He outpointed Davis, outwrestling perennially one of the top light heavyweight wrestlers in MMA, and if you want an uncomfortable watch, take a look at him slow-torturing McGeary with leg kicks until he can’t walk:
A Nemkov win would refresh a light heavyweight division that has sat stagnant for so long, especially with UFC contender Corey Anderson arriving to give 205 some new blood. Even if Bader’s weight cut takes something out of him, however, he’ll be the toughest test the Russian’s ever faced.
Yaroslav Amosov vs. Mark Lemminger, Bellator 244
Mixed martial arts isn’t boxing. You don’t generally see guys walk across your screen with gaudy win-loss records. Usually, by the time you’re 10-0, you’re signed somewhere and you’re fighting killers. So when you see a guy like Yaroslav Amosov, currently 23-0 in his pro career, you take notice.
Amosov is another world sambo champion who signed with Bellator in 2018 after fighting largely anonymous Russians for the previous six years. Bellator has signed fighters based off big win-loss records before (Remember Alexander Sarnavskiy? How about Nazareno Malegarie?), but unlike most of those guys, Amosov has shown up and kept winning, and against some relatively impressive competition.
The Russian welterweight started his Bellator career with wins over two UFC veterans, Gerald Harris and Erick Silva, and followed that by planting perennial Bellator contender David Rickels on his back for nine straight minutes before putting him away with a Brabo choke.
Amosov has the submission wrestling prowess that you would expect from a world champion in sambo, and he’s not afraid to use it. He was most recently seen matching up with one of Bellator’s brightest welterweight prospects – former three-time NCAA champion wrestler Ed Ruth – and winning by unanimous decision in a fight that had some truly excellent wrestling exchanges.
Mark Lemminger, who enters the fight at 11-1 in his pro career, is a big step down in terms of name recognition, and he’s coming in on a very quick turnaround: he beat Jake Smith by second-round TKO in his Bellator debut less than a month ago. This has the makings of a stay-busy fight for Amosov, but you never know what can happen in this sport. With another win to stay undefeated, you’d have to expect Amosov to really be looking up towards the top of the division.
Ovince Saint Preux vs. Alonzo Menifield, UFC Vegas 7
Saturday night’s UFC card is a relatively uninspiring one, headlined by a faded Frankie Edgar moving down in weight yet again in some effort to recapture the magic that once made him the world’s top lightweight. But I’m much more interested in the co-main, a light heavyweight matchup between former title challenger Ovince Saint Preux and prospect Alonzo Menifield.
OSP is probably destined to go down as one of the most singularly disappointing fighters in UFC history. The former Tennessee Volunteers defensive end has every physical tool and talent you could want – here’s him snatching Corey Anderson’s soul with a Mirko Cro Cop-esque left high kick – but there’s always seemed to be something missing from the equation, and a lack of intensity that’s only gotten worse as time has gone on.
OSP is returning to light heavyweight after a one-fight spell at heavyweight, where he lost to Ben Rothwell in a drag of a fight where he just didn’t really seem engaged or active. Still, he’ll be the biggest name test in the career of Menifield, a fellow former college football player who has finished all nine of his pro wins.
Menifield might already have some of the most frightening power anywhere in the light heavyweight division, and started his career with back-to-back first round KOs of Vinicius Moreira and Paul Craig – the latter win looks better as time goes on.
But if you can’t knock someone out early, you’ve got to have some sort of Plan B. Menifield didn’t have one last time he fought, against Devin Clark in June. Menifield hurt Clark badly early and nearly had him finished, but couldn’t complete the job. He was gassed by the end of the first round, and Clark outclassed him the rest of the way to end Menifield’s undefeated run by unanimous decision.
Even so, Menifield is rebounding from that loss with his highest-profile opponent ever, and if he can knock OSP out, the Clark loss will probably ultimately have little effect on his short-term career trajectory. But knocking OSP out is easier said than done: the only man to do it in the UFC is Jimi Manuwa, who either knocks someone out or gets knocked out in every fight.
I’m fascinated to see if Menifield can take some strides from the Clark fight and stay dangerous if OSP avoids the early finish. If not, watch for OSP’s genuinely really good submission game: he isn’t the God of the Von Flue choke for nothing.
The Big Fight 