PFL Heavyweight Champion Vadim Nemkov has vanquished many noteworthy opponents over the course of his magnificent win streak, but there is one adversary that he needs to face in 2026 to solidify his reign.
Vadim Nemkov Unbeaten In Almost a Decade
At PFL Champions Series 4 a couple of weeks ago, Vadim Nemkov trounced Brazilian wrecking ball Renan Ferreira in a truly outstanding performance. At exactly four minutes into the first round, the Russian locked in a tight arm triangle choke that took out the PFL vs. Bellator Super Fights World Heavyweight Champion, becoming the former’s official 265-lb king. Even before his match with Ferreira, Vadim Nemkov had begun to make waves in the division after jumping up to it in 2024, winning his previous two fights against Bruno Cappelozza and Timothy Johnson.
The move marked Vadim Nemkov’s return to the weight category since the literal last day of 2015, suffering the first loss of his professional career against future UFC star Jiří Procházka. For nearly the next 10 years, Nemkov competed exclusively at light heavyweight, and although his debut in the class got off to a rocky start following a setback to Karl Albrektsson, he soon was about to embark in a stellar road of success. Losing to Albrektsson in June of 2016, he would never lose another bout again at the time of this writing, winning his next 14 contests in a row.
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This run saw him snag the Bellator 205-lb strap, which he defended four times against a murderer’s row of top threats like Phil Davis, Corey Anderson and Yoel Romero. At 33 years of age, Vadim Nemkov is in the midst of his prime as a fighter, and with seemingly no actively strong competition, the Russian appears to be settling down for a long title reign in the PFL.
However, there is one man in the promotion that stands to give Vadim Nemkov, the European juggernaut a real run for his money both on the feet and on the ground, a man that is still viewed as the lineal heavyweight champion of the world: Francis Ngannou.
Ngannou Has Become Massive Celebrity in Combat Sports World
During his days in the UFC, Ngannou thrilled audience members and terrified his opposition with his otherworldly punching power, logging highlight reel knockout after highlight reel knockout en route to achieving stardom. First vying for the company’s heavyweight belt in 2018 at UFC 220, the Cameroonian lost a one-sided unanimous decision beatdown to divisional great Stipe Miocic, who dragged “The Predator” into deep waters for the first time with his wrestling. Gassed out and after receiving over 200 strikes, the American easily took home the win and forced Ngannou back to the drawing board.
The defeat ended up benefiting Ngannou in spades, though, as the Xtreme Couture product saw a noticeable evolution in his skill set in the wake of the Miocic encounter. By the time he rematched the Ohio native at UFC 260, he had begun to implement his degree of wrestling into his game, remarkably defending all of the champion’s takedowns before knocking him out in the second round. He then defended his newly-earned championship once against Ciryl Gane at UFC 270, again with his quickly-improving grappling, before vacating it after departing the UFC, joining rival organization the PFL.
Despite signing with the company three years ago, Ngannou has fought just once in the SmartCage, starching previous heavyweight tournament winner Renan Ferreira with a stupendous first round knockout.
While his advanced age at 39 makes him an understandable underdog opposite the young and talented Vadim Nemkov, the African holds more than enough power to end their theoretical showdown at any time. His now elite-level wrestling can also give him more opportunities to attack the Russian from a variety of different angles. Should Nemkov win the fight, there will be no doubting his legitimacy as the best 265-lb athlete on the planet.
