Sergei Bilostenniy Defeats Vadim Nemkov to Win PFL Heavyweight Title

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Sergei Bilostenniy stunned champion Vadim Nemkov on Saturday, Nov. 14, winning the PFL Heavyweight World Championship by unanimous decision at PFL Dubai. The No. 3-ranked contender beat Nemkov in an all-Russian showdown between former training partners.

Bilostenniy (16-4) survived an early submission scare before using his striking to out-point a bloodied Nemkov (20-3) across the five-round fight. The judges scored it 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47 at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.

Sergei Bilostenniy defeated Vadim Nemkov by unanimous decision to win the PFL Heavyweight World Championship at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai. [PFL photo]

Bilostenniy Beats Nemkov for PFL Title

Bilostenniy and Nemkov had to put their friendship aside with everything at stake. Afterward, the new champion praised his opponent and Team Fedor.

“I have a tremendous amount of respect for Vadim Nemkov and Team Fedor. The plan today was to fight and just have fun,” said an elated Bilostenniy.

“I used to have a dream where I would call my parents and tell them, ‘Hey, I am a world champion,’ and now I am going to call my parents. Dreams do come true, keep dreaming, work hard,” Bilostenniy added.

PFL Dubai Card Highlights and Results

PFL returned to Dubai for a fourth time, staging PFL Dubai at Coca-Cola Arena with the Dubai Sports Council and the Dubai Department of Economy and Tourism. The heavyweight title fight headlined the card.

In the co-main event, Belgian Patrick Habirora (10-0) submitted Omar El Dafrawy (16-7) with a standing guillotine choke at 3:11 of round 1. It was his fifth straight first-round finish, and he declared his intention to challenge for the welterweight title.

Elsewhere, Oleg Popov (24-2) beat Pouya Rahmani (6-1), Joji Goto (22-9-1) won his PFL debut over Sergio Pettis (25-9) and Lewis McGrillen (14-2) forced Nawras Abzakh (15-7, 1 NC) to retire. Connor Hughes (13-3) knocked out Shem Rock (12-4-1) on the early card.

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Brian Yalung

Managing Editor at Sports Bytes PH

Brian Yalung is a long-time writer who covers most sports and technology. He focuses on one-on-one interviews with athletes and organizations, going in-depth. He finished his Masters in Business Administration degree at the Ateneo Graduate School of Business and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer Applications at the DLSU-College of St. Benilde.