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  4. Bellator MMA crowned a new champion when Vadim Nemkov dropped Ryan Bader with a head kick, then threw 60 unanswered strikes

Bellator MMA crowned a new champion when Vadim Nemkov dropped Ryan Bader with a head kick, then threw 60 unanswered strikes

Alan Dawson   

Bellator MMA crowned a new champion when Vadim Nemkov dropped Ryan Bader with a head kick, then threw 60 unanswered strikes
  • Vadim Nemkov won the Bellator MMA light heavyweight championship when he dropped the former champion with a head kick, then threw 60 unanswered shots.
  • Nemkov dominated Ryan Bader in the 205-pound tussle at the behind-closed-doors Bellator 244 show in the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut.
  • "That was one of the most explosive two-round fights I've seen," Bellator boss Scott Coker said at the post-fight press conference.
  • Watch the second round finish below.

Bellator MMA crowned a new champion when Vadim Nemkov dropped Ryan Bader with a head kick, then threw 60 unanswered strikes at a behind-closed-doors show Friday.

Bader entered the light heavyweight match — a defense of his Bellator title in the main event of Bellator 244 at the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut — as one of the Hollywood-based fight firm's most decorated pros.

The dual champion at 205-pounds and also above, at heavyweight, Bader was looking for his eighth win in four years, but was upset by a fast-rising, 28-year-old Nemkov.

A protege of the iconic heavyweight Fedor Emilanenko, Nemkov dominated Bader from the off, floored him in the second round, and threw dozens of unanswered shots while Bader was on the mat.

As the American got back to his feet, Nemkov dropped him again and finished the fight for good.

Bader's reign came to an end, and a new light heavyweight era — the Nemkov era — began.

Watch the finish right here:

With the win, Nemkov advanced his record to 12 wins (nine knockouts, two submissions, and one decision) against two losses.

Since joining Bellator in 2017, Nemkov has won five fights in a row (four of which have been by finish).

During that run he he knocked out a former Professional Fighters League champion in Philipe Lins; finished, decisioned, and submitted three former Bellator champions in Liam McGeary, Phil Davis, and Rafael Carvalho, and now, perhaps most impressively of all, won the light heavyweight strap with a second round knockout win over Bader.

Bellator analyst Robin Black called Nemkov "a terrifying martial artist … an artist of carnage" on Twitter.

"That was one of the most explosive two-round fights I've seen," said Bellator boss Scott Coker at the post-fight press conference.

"It was a very high level," he said.

"Bader is a world class fighter, athlete … it just didn't work out for him tonight but Nemkov is a beast. Wrestling with the top wrestlers in the world, great striking. But it was the movement [which was troubling Bader] and the speed."

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