With Jon Jones vacating the UFC light heavyweight championship earlier this week, Ryan Bader declared himself the greatest light heavyweight on the planet. Mere days later, Bader is without a 205-pound title after losing the Bellator light heavyweight championship via TKO at the hands of Vadim Nemkov in the main event of Bellator 244.
Nemkov was able to take over the fight early against Bader, showing a clear speed advantage in the stand-up, landing straight right hands and looping lefts while sliding outside the striking range of Bader. Bader scored a takedown late in the round, but before he did any significant damage, chose to stand back up and move the fight back to the feet. The decision to abandon his wrestling may have been Bader's undoing as Nemkov won the final Round 1 striking exchanges before ending things in Round 2.
A right hand sent Bader stumbling early in the second. Smelling blood, Nemkov kept the pressure up before landing a big head kick that sent Bader stumbling to the canvas. The referee gave Bader every chance to continue, with Nemkov landing punch after punch before Bader rose to his feet and tried to sprint out of the assault, only to eat a left hook and crumble to the canvas again. This brought the fight to an end at the 3:02 mark of Round 2.
"When we studied his film, we realized Ryan Bader doesn't fight well moving backward," Nemkov said via an interpreter following his victory. "Our plan was to keep moving forward."
By the end of the fight, Nemkov had piled up a 50-7 advantage in strikes landing, dominating the bout en route to becoming light heavyweight champion when the division is in a major transition period worldwide.
Bader still has the Bellator heavyweight championship to keep him warm at night, but tonight was Nemkov's time to shine. This was a coming-out party for the Russian, who runs his career record to 12-2 and extends his current run to seven straight wins, six of which have come by stoppage.
CBS Sports was with you all night, bringing you recaps and highlights of the Bellator 244 action. Read on for all the results from Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut.
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Bellator 244 fight card results
- Vadim Nemkov def. Ryan Bader via second-round TKO to win light heavyweight title (punches)
- Julia Budd def. Jessy Miele via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Valentin Moldavsky def. Roy Nelson via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- John Salter def. Andrew Kapel via third-round submission (arm triangle)
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August 22, 2020 at 11:33AM
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Bellator 244 results, highlights: Vadim Nemkov stuns Ryan Bader via TKO to win light heavyweight title - CBSSports.com
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