The American said this on the regular edition of the program “The MMA Hour”.
“Anyone who can be honest with themselves saw that he was like a fish out of water in the first fight,” Anderson said. “He was afraid of losing, so he decided not to take any chances in the third fight and just gave up the belt.”
In 2022, Anderson fought Nemkov twice in the Bellator welterweight grand prix finals – the first fight was declared a no contest due to an accidental clash of heads, but in the second fight, the Russian won a solid victory by unanimous decision of the judges and became the winner of the contest.
The American then defeated his compatriot Phil Davis by split decision, while the Russian fighter successfully defended his title against Yoel Romero and vacated the championship belt, announcing his move up to heavyweight.
Vadim Nemkov will make his heavyweight debut on February 24 at the PFL and Bellator co-main event in Riyadh, where he will face former PFL champion Bruno Cappelozza, while Corey Anderson will attempt to win the vacant Bellator heavyweight belt on March 22 in a bout against Carl Moore.