PFL’s Road to Dubai Event Loses Vadim Nemkov-Corey Anderson Co-Headliner

The Vadim Nemkov-Corey Anderson trilogy bout won’t be happening at Professional Fighters League’s Road to Dubai event as originally planned.

A promotion official confirmed the cancellation to Sherdog.com on Tuesday following an initial report from MMAFighting.com. The PFL is seeking a new co-main event for the card. Nemkov was originally booked to meet 2022 PFL heavyweight champion Ante Delija at Road to Dubai, but the 34-year-old Croatian withdrew from the event.

Road to Dubai takes place on Jan. 25 at Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai and appears to be a rebranded version of Bellator Champions Series. In the main event, Usman Nurmagomedov will defend his lightweight strap against Paul Hughes.

While a reason for the cancellation wasn’t given, Anderson recently took to social media to blame Nemkov for backing out of the fight.

“Woke up to a text this morning from PFL and Bellator saying ‘Vadim refuses to fight you,’” Anderson said in video 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.

“How do 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.”

Anderson and Nemkov initially fought in the Bellator grand prix final in April 2022. Anderson appeared to be on his way to victory when an accidental clash of heads resulted in the bout being ruled a no contest. Nemkov cruised in the rematch, taking a five-round unanimous verdict at Bellator 288 in November 2022. Their third meeting was scheduled to be contested in the heavyweight division.

Nemkov moved to heavyweight in his most recent outing, as he scored a second-round submission win over Bruno Cappelozza at a PFL vs. Bellator event this past February.

Anderson is 2-0 since his loss to Nemkov. He defeated fellow UFC veteran Phil Davis via split decision at Bellator 297 before claiming the vacant Bellator light heavyweight title with a decision triumph over Karl Moore at Bellator Champions Series Belfast on March 22.

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