“I want tough competition”. An exclusive interview with Vadim Nemkov representing Russia.

 
Representing Russia and Russia MMA Union, Vadim Nemkov will face Goran Reljic in the opening round for the RIZIN WORLD GP
—How do you feel about fighting in RIZIN representing your team and country
I am very happy to be able to participate in such a tournament. I will train hard to prepare for this fight.
—You were in the position to choose your opponent, how did that feel
I don’t care whoever my opponent becomes when given one, but his time I had to choose. My point of choosing the opponent was who would suit me the most. I’m not talking about who is weak, I had some idea of all of the participants, so I chose the toughest one.
—What kind of training are you doing
Right now I am training all aspects so that I can react to any situation. Now that I know who I will be fighting, starting next week I will study my opponent and come up with drills to prepare for him. Goran Reljic is a tall and lanky fighter so I’m assuming that he will want to stand and trade.
—Tell us about Russia MMA Union
It’s an MMA organization like they have here in Japan. We wear knee pads and gloves with more padding and fight tournaments where you fight 3 times in 1 day, fight the finals the next day. This tournament is really hard on the body.
—What are your impressions on Japanese MMA
I think Japanese MMA is great. Japanese fighters are well skilled and tough. It’s the origin of Judo and I think it is a country who takes proud in martial arts.
—Message to the fans
I believe that the Japanese fans will respect beautiful technique, so I would like to show the art aspect in the fight game, and win.