Vadim Nemkov vs. Corey Anderson 3 has officially been scrapped from PFL’s upcoming Dubai debut card on Jan. 25.
Damon Martin is a veteran journalist and insider covering combat sports since 2003.
PFL officials confirmed the news to MMA Fighting on Tuesday.
The fight cancellation was initially revealed by Anderson after he replaced PFL veteran Ante Delija and moved up to heavyweight for the chance to face Nemkov again. Anderson was looking for some closure after he largely dominated Nemkov in their first encounter, but the fight ended in a no-contest after an accidental clash of heads.
In the rematch, Nemkov won a unanimous decision to claim the Bellator light heavyweight title before vacating the belt to move to heavyweight. Anderson sought out the third fight against Nemkov but now the matchup is no longer happening.
In his initial announcement, Anderson blasted Nemkov for accepting the fight and then later deciding he didn’t want the matchup in January.
“Woke up to a text this morning from PFL and Bellator saying ‘Vadim refuses to fight you,’” Anderson said on Instagram. “Verbatim their words is ‘you’re too tough of a fight for him. That’s what he says but he wants to stay on the card and fight a lesser opponent. Can’t make this stuff up.
“You call yourself the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the organization, but you’re scared to fight somebody that you’ve already fought twice on seven weeks’ notice.”
Now the fight has officially been scrapped from the card with PFL actively seeking out a new co-main event for the January show.
The PFL card in Dubai is headlined by a lightweight title fight as Bellator champion Usman Nurmagomedov puts his belt up for grabs against fast-rising star Paul Hughes.
