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Julius Anglickas gets his armed raised in his most recently victory this past April over Gregory Millard at Bellator 257. COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas gets his armed raised in his most recently victory this past April over Gregory Millard at Bellator 257. COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas gets his armed raised in his most recently victory this past April over Gregory Millard at Bellator 257. COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas gets his armed raised in his most recently victory this past April over Gregory Millard at Bellator 257. COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas gets his armed raised in his most recently victory this past April over Gregory Millard at Bellator 257. COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas gets his armed raised in his most recently victory this past April over Gregory Millard at Bellator 257. COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas gets his armed raised in his most recently victory this past April over Gregory Millard at Bellator 257. COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas gets his armed raised in his most recently victory this past April over Gregory Millard at Bellator 257. COURTESY BELLATOR
Julius Anglickas is ready for the biggest fight of his mixed martial arts career.
The 2009 Southampton High School graduate, now 30, will enter the octagon this Saturday night against reigning Bellator light heavyweight champion Vadim Nemkov at Bellator 268 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona. This will be Anglickas’s first fight for a belt. If he wins, he’ll face the Ryan Bader-Corey Anderson winner at a later date for the Grand Prix title and $1 million. Bader and Anderson also are scheduled to fight at Bellator 268.
The Lithuanian native wasn’t originally scheduled for the title fight but was named the replacement fighter for Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, who had to pull out of the fight with an undisclosed illness that is expected to keep him from fighting until at least next year, according to reports. Bellator made the announcement during its televised portion of Bellator 266 in September.
Anglickas, who is 10-1 overall in his career and 3-0 in Bellator, had been scheduled to compete at next month’s UFC 268 against No. 10 Karl Albrektsson (11-3), but that fight had to be changed now that he is fighting Nemkov. Albrektsson will now face Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (18-6-1).
Anglickas said he was happy that his original opponent Albrektsson was able to find a new opponent, but he didn’t want to miss out on what will be his first main event this Saturday night.
Anglickas said he had some nerves about his upcoming fight, “but at the same time, it’s a title fight and you’re fighting the champion and expected to lose. That takes some of the pressure off. There’s no shame in losing when you’re fighting the best in the game, so there’s not too much pressure at all. Slowly the nerves are building, but that happens before all of my other fights where I feel like I need to perform to get another victory.”
Anglickas is the fifth-ranked Bellator light heavyweight fighter and has won all three of his matches by unanimous decision. His most recent decision was in April against Gregory Milliard. Nemkov (14-2) has won eight in a row and is undefeated in Bellator at 6-0 with wins over Bader, Rafael Carvalho, Liam McGreary and two against Phil Davis.
Standing 6 foot 3 inches tall and weighing 205 pounds, Anglickas holds a slight edge in size over Nemkov, who is 6 feet, 203 pounds.
“He moves well, throws really good leg kicks, which he slows people down with, and is one of his big weapons,” Anglickas said of his opponent. “He does more with kickboxing than wrestling, so I’ll have to prepare for that.
“What he does is not magic,” he added. “He’s just really good at the basics. I always work hard and do what I need to do. It’s not like I’m going to fight someone who is not human. I’m sure he’ll be surprised by what I do as well. If he beats me, whatever — he beats me. But I’m sure it’s going to be a hell of a night for him as well.”
