“I obviously want to keep both of these belts,” Bader went on to say. “I can bounce back and forth pretty easily. For me, right now I’d like to defend the belt at 205 and fight again at 205, while my body is primed for that weight. It’s been some years since I’ve been down there, due to no fault on my side they just asked me to come do this heavyweight tournament and defend the heavyweight title right after the Grand Prix. I’d like to get a couple fights at 205. Go out there, beat Nemkov, then turn around and give Machida a title shot, get that loss back. I’d also like to fight in Japan, fight for the Rizin FF belt, finish the year with three belts.”

Nemkov (11-2) is currently on a six-fight win streak. The four-time Sambo World Champion made his Bellator debut in 2017, beating Philipe Lins via knockout. He would later beat Liam McGeary, Phil Davis, and Rafael Carvalho, the last bout coming back in October.