Wild statistic regarding Illia Topuria’s professional UFC career

[Blanqa Blanqua]

Discus.

 

[BigTruck]

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

This thread seems to have tanked, so I appreciate this post.

Feel free to post up bangers y'all.

 

[Get To Da Choppa]

Discus.

Would be crazy if Ilia throws a head kick because nobody is expecting that and gives Volk his second straight head kick loss

Could be like Dan Henderson-Hector Lombard situation, where Dan threw a rare head kick on Lombard because Hector is so short that even 0 flexibility Dan could kick him in the head

 

[Lights Out 101]

That is actually crazy. Wtf?

Either Volk will capitalise on this or Topuria is going to catch us all off guard and crocop his ass

 

[FlyingDeathKick]

Would be crazy if Ilia throws a head kick because nobody is expecting that and gives Volk his second straight head kick loss

Could be like Dan Henderson-Hector Lombard situation, where Dan threw a rare head kick on Lombard because Hector is so short that even 0 flexibility Dan could kick him in the head

Michael Chandler was another surprising one, at least in Hendo's Case Lombard is a short guy, was very unexpected tho. Both the kick and the reverse elbow lol.

 

[maximus__]

Discus.

He was primarily hitting double legs and subbing people coming up. He only had to really strike once he got off the regional scene. He has made the mistake of falling in love with his striking and is likely on track to be Josh Emmet 2.0 or the next 145 champ.

 

[fortheo]

He was primarily hitting double legs and subbing people coming up. He only had to really strike once he got off the regional scene. He has made the mistake of falling in love with his striking and is likely on track to be Josh Emmet 2.0 or the next 145 champ.

Yeah. I watched all of his fights from the beginning the other day. The change in his approach is night and day. He's good at boxing, good at wrestling, and good at bjj, but he's almost always doing one or the other. He started mostly just grappling guys, now he's mostly just boxing -- he doesn't mix things together that well.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

i don't think Ilia is that impressive of a fighter from a skill standpoint, at least from his UFC fights. the thing that makes this interesting is that i think Volk is starting to fall off. so for me this fight is all about can Volk keep it together for this fight? or can he at least keep it together enough for this fight to win?

 

[kingofthecans]

Would be hilarious if when he finally does throw one it backfires lol.

 

[maximus__]

Yeah. I watched all of his fights from the beginning the other day. The change in his approach is night and day. He's good at boxing, good at wrestling, and good at bjj, but he's almost always doing one or the other. He started mostly just grappling guys, now he's mostly just boxing -- he doesn't mix things together that well.

I couldn't be bothered watching the in full, but the highlights I watched only included a single body knee. I do recall watching some fights previously and recall him whiffing on some headkicks, but it might be imagined. I know he has been nearly caught with a head kick prior to Herbert.

He can strike into takedowns pretty well from those early fights but grappling wins regional fights, more than it does in the UFC.

 

[HuskySamoan]

i don't think Ilia is that impressive of a fighter from a skill standpoint, at least from his UFC fights. the thing that makes this interesting is that i think Volk is starting to fall off. so for me this fight is all about can Volk keep it together for this fight? or can he at least keep it together enough for this fight to win?

I think Topuria is very athletic. Big power, physically strong, solid conditioning. Strong wrestling and submission base, really heavy handed with decent combinations and fights well in the pocket or range. The athleticism is the biggest sale for me. He lacks polish or tact in some ways and he definitely is a bit meat and potatoes.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Would be crazy if Ilia throws a head kick because nobody is expecting that and gives Volk his second straight head kick loss

Could be like Dan Henderson-Hector Lombard situation, where Dan threw a rare head kick on Lombard because Hector is so short that even 0 flexibility Dan could kick him in the head

Man I really thought Lombard would go much further in the UFC than he did. Cuban Judoka Curse.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

I think Topuria is very athletic. Big power, physically strong, solid conditioning. Strong wrestling and submission base, really heavy handed with decent combinations and fights well in the pocket or range. The athleticism is the biggest sale for me. He lacks polish or tact in some ways and he definitely is a bit meat and potatoes.

i can agree with those things, i just think Ilia's striking isn't going to be a problem for the Volk who fought Islam the first time, beat KZ and Ortega or the one who beat Max. but the one who fought Yair? that Volk could get KO'd by Ilia in my opinion. that's why for me the fight is more about how Volk is than how good Ilia is.

 

[HuskySamoan]

i can agree with those things, i just think Ilia's striking isn't going to be a problem for the Volk who fought Islam the first time, beat KZ and Ortega or the one who beat Max. but the one who fought Yair? that Volk could get KO'd by Ilia in my opinion. that's why for me the fight is more about how Volk is than how good Ilia is.

What's interesting to me is a compact, quick and heavy handed guy in Mendes gave Volk trouble standing and even dropped him. Volk has really had punch selection, he uses his footwork really well but mainly relies on 1s and 2s and peppering kicks. On the inside he's a very limited striker and that's where Ilia shines, ripping the body, putting combinations together, hooke and uppercuts...much better than most in that regard. If he can effectively pressure and find Volk, close in range he can have some success. That said, Ilia has been rocked multiple times by high kicks...doesn't check or seem them coming too well and also struggles with low kicks, he can be pretty plodding at times too where Volk has amazing footwork.

I favor Volk for sure, but he's aging and tool a wicked KO loss. I do think Evloev and Topuria are better fighters than Yair, Ortega or Korean Zombie. I also think theyre both much different challenges than a guy like Max too.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

Man I really thought Lombard would go much further in the UFC than he did. Cuban Judoka Curse.

more like grappler built like a dwarf always wants to strike curse

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

What's interesting to me is a compact, quick and heavy handed guy in Mendes gave Volk trouble standing and even dropped him. Volk has really had punch selection, he uses his footwork really well but mainly relies on 1s and 2s and peppering kicks. On the inside he's a very limited striker and that's where Ilia shines, ripping the body, putting combinations together, hooke and uppercuts...much better than most in that regard. If he can effectively pressure and find Volk, close in range he can have some success. That said, Ilia has been rocked multiple times by high kicks...doesn't check or seem them coming too well and also struggles with low kicks, he can be pretty plodding at times too where Volk has amazing footwork.

I favor Volk for sure, but he's aging and tool a wicked KO loss. I do think Evloev and Topuria are better fighters than Yair, Ortega or Korean Zombie. I also think theyre both much different challenges than a guy like Max too.

those guys are better than the guys i mentioned, i just mean if Volk is on his game like he was in those fights, he shouldn't have that much trouble with Ilia. i think Mendes boxing after his KO loss to Aldo really turned a corner and he shortened up his shots and i think he has better boxing than Ilia, especially with his ability to feint takedowns into punching combinations. it's funny you mention Volk having trouble with guys getting in on him, because that's why i think Ilia could KO Volk. it's not just being close that isn't good for Volk, it's how he utilizes his defense. his defense is a lot like Whittaker's where he uses the space, his quickness, and footwork to get out of trouble. the problem i saw was when he hurt Yair against the fence, he went to finish and got clipped by a big punch. he ate it, but he didn't adjust in case another came back at him, he didn't have some kind of proactive defense to it, nothing. he just ate it. if Yair threw a 3 piece instead of just 1 punch, Volk would've had to eat all 3. he was too close and in the middle of his own offense to be able to react. in that moment of the fight i immediately thought to myself, "if that was Ilia, Volk would've probably been flattened"

if Volk dances on the outside and picks away and waits for the right exchanges, i think he'll win easy. but if he comes forward too much, intends to win every exchange, or Ilia can close on him by somehow disabling his movement, i think he has a real chance to KO Volk.

 

[Pain4Pain]

Ilia is very good at both striking and grappling but not fluid at mixing it up, though he is improving. A part of his recent progression was due to training at gyms in the US.

Evloev is the probably the most fluid guy at mixing it up, but he lacks the physical gifts of strength and power.

If Ilia gets past Volk he will likely hold the belt for a while.

 

[Johnny_Knuckles]

Tight hips.

 

[13Seconds]

Yeah. I watched all of his fights from the beginning the other day. The change in his approach is night and day. He's good at boxing, good at wrestling, and good at bjj, but he's almost always doing one or the other. He started mostly just grappling guys, now he's mostly just boxing -- he doesn't mix things together that well.

Clearly his gameplan for Volk is the classic sprawl and brawl. Volk is gonna GSP his ass.