The key facts

  • Emelianenko will be Nemkov's cornerman in the fight against Bilostenny in Dubai
  • Nemkov has not competed since January 2025, when he stopped Timothy Johnson early
  • Emelianenko's own last fight was a loss to Ryan Bader in February 2023

Emelianenko will help Nemkov in his corner

Former mixed martial arts world champion Fedor Emelianenko has announced that he will work as Vadim Nemkov's cornerman during his defense of the Professional Fighters League (PFL) championship title. Emelianenko's words are relayed by a Gazeta.Ru correspondent. According to him, Nemkov is already in Dubai and taking part in pre-fight press conferences, and his opponent will be Sergey Bilostenny.

What is known about the opponent and Nemkov's layoff

“Sergey trained with us, and I believe Vadim has a much greater store of knowledge. I will help Nemkov to the best of my ability, including as his cornerman,” the outlet quotes Emelianenko. Thus, the champion's opponent previously trained on the same team as Emelianenko himself — a detail that explains why Emelianenko considers Nemkov the favorite. For Nemkov, this will be his first fight since January 2025, when he stopped American Timothy Johnson early in the first round.

Emelianenko retired in 2023

Fedor Emelianenko himself last stepped into the cage on February 4, 2023, losing to American Ryan Bader: the referee stopped the fight in the first round at the three-minute mark. In total, the Russian has had 48 MMA bouts — 40 wins, seven losses and one no contest. The outlet also notes that the UFC previously refused to negotiate with Emelianenko.