Nemkov vs Romero

Who won Nemkov vs Romero?

Vadim Nemkov beat Yoel Romero by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of Bellator 297, on Friday 16th June 2023 at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.

The scorecards were announced in favor of the winner Vadim Nemkov.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Light Heavyweight division, which meant the weight limit was 205 pounds (14.6 stone or 93 KG).

This contest was for the Bellator light heavyweight championship.

Nemkov vs Romero stats

Vadim Nemkov stepped into the octagon with a record of 15 wins, 2 losses and 0 draws, 9 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 3 by submission.

Yoel Romero made his way to the cage with a record of 15 wins, 6 losses and 0 draws, 13 of those wins coming by knock out.

Vadim Nemkov's Bellator record stood at 10-0-0, while Yoel Romero's came in at 3-2-0.

The stats suggested Romero had a large advantage in power over Nemkov, boasting a 87% knock out percentage over Nemkov's 60%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Nemkov had an advantage over Romero, with a 20% submission rate over Romero's 0%.

Vadim Nemkov was the younger man by 15 years, at 31 years old.

Nemkov was the less experienced professional fighter, having had 4 fewer fights, and made his debut in 2013, 3 years and 6 months later than Romero, whose first professional fight was in 2009. He had fought 22 less professional rounds, 46 to Romero's 68.

Nemkov vs Romero form

Yoel Romero had stopped 2 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 297 on 16th June 2023 by unanimous decision in their Bellator Light Heavyweight championship fight at Wintrust Arena, Chicago, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Melvin Manhoef at Bellator 285 on 23rd September 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at 3Arena Dublin, Dublin, United Kingdom.

Going into that contest, he had beaten Alex Polizzi at Bellator 280 on 6th May 2022 by knockout in the 3rd round at Accor Arena, Paris, France.

Before that, he had been beaten by Phil Davis at Bellator 266 on 18th September 2021 by split decision in their 3 round contest at SAP Center, San Jose, United States.

He had been defeated by Israel Adesanya at UFC 248 on 7th March 2020 by unanimous decision in their UFC Middleweight championship fight at T-Mobile Arena, Las Vegas.

Activity check

Nemkov's last 3 fights had come over a period of 6 years, 2 months and 9 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 2 years and 23 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 8 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 2.7 rounds on average.

Romero's last 5 fights had come over a period of 4 years, 1 month and 18 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 9 months and 29 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 19 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.8 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Nemkov vs Romero?

Vadim Nemkov was a 2/13 (-710) favourite going into the contest, while Yoel Romero made his way into the ring at 15/4 (+410) with oddsmakers.