Sergei Bilostenniy is the new PFL heavyweight world champion. He beat Vadim Nemkov by unanimous decision in the PFL Dubai main event Saturday at the Coca-Cola Arena, with the judges scoring it 49-46, 48-47 and 48-47. The promotion announced it on X in all caps, and Nolan King’s entire reaction was one word: “Wow.” MMA Fighting called it an upset, and it was one. Nemkov came in on a 14-fight unbeaten streak that ran through Renan Ferreira, Yoel Romero, Corey Anderson, Phil Davis and Ryan Bader.
Nemkov nearly ended it early. After a missed head kick in the first round he took Bilostenniy down, climbed to full mount and went hunting for an armbar. Bilostenniy escaped and got back up, and the night turned from there. Nemkov kept shooting in the second round and got nothing for five minutes. In the third, Bilostenniy stuffed another attempt easily, and the champion was stuck standing with a bigger hitter. By the fourth, Bilostenniy was landing the heavier shots and barely had to think about the wrestling.
One detail from MMA Fighting’s round-by-round deserves a second look. Nemkov led in total strikes landed on the official stats, yet he was behind on the cards heading into the fifth because Bilostenniy landed the strikes that did damage. Nemkov spent the last round on the outside with his jab, couldn’t get a takedown, and neither man took a real risk in the closing minutes.
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How They Got Here
Bilostenniy had won four of five since leaving Bellator for PFL. His last loss came in May 2025 against Valentin Moldavsky, and Nemkov worked Moldavsky’s corner that night. Since then, Bilostenniy knocked out Karl Williams and Renan Ferreira back to back. Before the fight, Nemkov told MMA Fighting through a translator that the challenger was “very worthy of a title shot” and that he had been game planning for him while cornering Moldavsky. “Me and Moldavsky have a different style so not necessarily the things he did might work for me and vice versa, but I have a plan,” he said.
Nemkov, ranked No. 11 at heavyweight in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings, also used fight week to talk up his mentor Fedor Emelianenko for a possible boxing match with Francis Ngannou. Emelianenko still works with Nemkov in the gym.
This was billed as Nemkov’s last title defense before the company continues under the MVP MMA brand in 2027, so Bilostenniy carries the belt into that changeover. Nothing on a rematch had been announced as of Saturday night.
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In the co-main, unbeaten welterweight Patrick Habirora put Omar El Dafrawy out with a guillotine at 3:11 of Round 1.
My take: a wrestler who can’t land a takedown after Round 1 is a guy fighting the other guy’s fight for 20 minutes, and Nemkov did exactly that. Bilostenniy’s 49-46 card is the honest one. The volume stat flattered the loser, which is why I trust damage over strike counts when I’m reading a fight, and why I’ll be watching closely to see who MVP lines up for the new champ in 2027.
