Watching the Volk vs Topuria fight more critically the 2nd time around

[BluntForceTrama]

I admit barely watching this one probably because I was dissatisfied with the outcome initially. I expected much more from Volk so I didn't give Top due credit. I had the impression already that Volk slipped up and got KOd by a glancing shot.

Watching it a second time and paying attention, clearly Volk got his Ass kicked and likely has recurring nightmares of Topuria. I had thought Topuria was lucky to be fighting Volk. But now I think its Volk who's probably more thankful he got to get spanked by an actual genius in the game.

Who do we have to compare Top to? Ive now watched this fight 3 times. I recommend watching just Top the entire fight, preferably save this for last. There is nobody Ive ever seen who moves like Topuria. This guy could easily become a world class boxer.

This whole time I had Volk's striking repertoire at an elite level for the game. But now I see Volk was having fits dealing with Top's movement. The dude was moving around like a fukin black cat. Volk was off balance just about the entire fight. No doubt about it, he secretly is afraid of Topuria. He knows he may not have it in him to deal with this again.

And that was no glancing blow, Holmes got hit by a mallet to the side of the face. A guy with a supposed chin like Volk is seen flying through the air with his eyes shut ded. Volk has nightmares of this guy for certain.

And this is all why Holloway is gnashing at the teeth to get to this guy. The BMF smells blood. Alpha steps to alpha. The fight needs to happen. They both have off the charts fight IQs. Nobody in the UFC moves or has moved like Topuria. You can tell elite level boxers by just observing their feet. Is Top vs Islam even possible?



I officially see what you see, sherbros
We are seeing absolute genius greatness right here. Conor for once is biting his tongue for the most part because even he knows. Top is what Conor wants to be.

 

[Contempt]

I believe all three judges gave the first round to Volk from memory so "clearly Volk got his Ass kicked" is a but much.

 

[Luthien]

Really don't want Volk to get a rematch, don't see the point

 

[BluntForceTrama]

I believe all three judges gave the first round to Volk from memory so "clearly Volk got his Ass kicked" is a but much.

I mean I guess if you mainly count Volk's leg kicks. Sure Volk got some licks in but overall, there was a sense of domination.

Volk was flinching at every feint and looked..concerned.

 

[KoChang]

I believe all three judges gave the first round to Volk from memory so "clearly Volk got his Ass kicked" is a but much.

Volk won the first round for sure but the finish felt inevitable. Topuria was stalking him and it felt like Volk was running.

 

[moreorless87]

Volk won the first round for sure but the finish felt inevitable. Topuria was stalking him and it felt like Volk was running.

Volk to me seemed nevy from the start, looking to keep Topuria far on the outside, wear of his ability to step in with fight ending punches.

Its a very different fight to Max IMHO who whilst he can land KOs shots if he really sits down on his punchs as vs Justin generally doesnt as his normal tactics.

it wasnt an ass kicking but I think you saw the threat of the KO long before it happened.

 

[HuskySamoan]

I admit barely watching this one probably because I was dissatisfied with the outcome initially. I expected much more from Volk so I didn't give Top due credit. I had the impression already that Volk slipped up and got KOd by a glancing shot.

Watching it a second time and paying attention, clearly Volk got his Ass kicked and likely has recurring nightmares of Topuria. I had thought Topuria was lucky to be fighting Volk. But now I think its Volk who's probably more thankful he got to get spanked by an actual genius in the game.

Who do we have to compare Top to? Ive now watched this fight 3 times. I recommend watching just Top the entire fight, preferably save this for last. There is nobody Ive ever seen who moves like Topuria. This guy could easily become a world class boxer.

This whole time I had Volk's striking repertoire at an elite level for the game. But now I see Volk was having fits dealing with Top's movement. The dude was moving around like a fukin black cat. Volk was off balance just about the entire fight. No doubt about it, he secretly is afraid of Topuria. He knows he may not have it in him to deal with this again.

And that was no glancing blow, Holmes got hit by a mallet to the side of the face. A guy with a supposed chin like Volk is seen flying through the air with his eyes shut ded. Volk has nightmares of this guy for certain.

And this is all why Holloway is gnashing at the teeth to get to this guy. The BMF smells blood. Alpha steps to alpha.



I officially see what you see, sherbros
We are seeing absolute genius greatness right here. Conor for once is biting his tongue for the most part because even he knows. Top is what Conor wants to be.

Topurias rise was nowhere near as impressive as Conors nor did he beat as good of competition. The issue is Conor stopped wanting to be a student of the game, he stopped caring about legacy....he became filthy rich and famous, addicted to the party lifestyle and never looked back. If anything, Topuria wants to be what Conor is (although I hope not). Silly statement by you, eh.


I agree though, Topuria was finding Volk and making adjustments the whole time leading up to the combination that floored Volk. Volk didnt get "caught", Topuria was breaking him down. That said, Volk was 35, out of prime, coming off a brutal KO, jumping around divisions constantly and had a war vs Makhachev where he was rocked like 3x in their first bout. I'm interested to see Topuria vs Max and Evloev, let's get the show on the road. No doubt about it, Topuria is an elite athlete with big KO power who dedicated himself to combat sports since youth. Dudes got really good combination punching and is great on the inside with the wrestling and grappling to really back it up. But Emmet is 40 years old and super overrated, Mitchell was a great win but nowhere near the level guys like Evloev and Max are. Let's see it.

 

[Contempt]

I mean I guess if you mainly count Volk's leg kicks. Sure Volk got some licks in but overall, there was a sense of domination.

Volk was flinching at every feint and looked..concerned.

A sense of domination while landing more strikes and winning the round on all three judges score cards LOL?

He was outlanding him in the second as well. One thing I missed the first time around was about a minute and a half before the end Bisping mentioned that if he kept going straight back he was going to get cornered on the fence and eat a combo...

Mystic Ping called it.

 

[Contempt]

Volk won the first round for sure but the finish felt inevitable. Topuria was stalking him and it felt like Volk was running.

He was moving a lot and peppering Illia with jabs and kicks. There's a difference between staying mobile, giving a mobile target and "running" I find it difficult to describe the person who landed the most strikes in both rounds as running.

He moved straight backwards and got cornered on the fence by a big puncher. One fuckup and fight over, it happens.

 

[HuskySamoan]

Volk to me seemed nevy from the start, looking to keep Topuria far on the outside, wear of his ability to step in with fight ending punches.

Its a very different fight to Max IMHO who whilst he can land KOs shots if he really sits down on his punchs as vs Justin generally doesnt as his normal tactics.

Volk can't strike from the inside very well, he primarily throws 1s and 2s, likes to utilize a lot of footwork, doesn't really go to the body with his strikes or mix it up a ton. Also Volks defense is a lot more about controlling range and footwork based, stifling guys with a strong jab and low kicks. If Topuria gets on the inside, he has way better punch selection, power and technique there, plus it's not where Volk is defensively strong. Topuria finished Volk with a 4 punch combination, when was the last time you even saw Volk throw a punch combination?

Also Max didn't show knockout power vs Gaetjhe, it was the 5th round, Gaethje was badly hurt and getting beaten up for most of the 25 minutes with a shattered nose. It was like the 200th strike Max landed on Gaethje. Max has never shown KO power.

 

[moreorless87]

Volk can't strike from the inside very well, he primarily throws 1s and 2s, likes to utilize a lot of footwork, doesn't really go to the body with his strikes or mix it up a ton. Also Volks defense is a lot more about controlling range and footwork based, stifling guys with a strong jab and low kicks. If Topuria gets on the inside, he has way better punch selection, power and technique there, plus it's not where Volk is defensively strong. Topuria finished Volk with a 4 punch combination, when was the last time you even saw Volk throw a punch combination?

Also Max didn't show knockout power vs Gaetjhe, it was the 5th round, Gaethje was badly hurt and getting beaten up for most of the 25 minutes with a shattered nose. It was like the 200th strike Max landed on Gaethje. Max has never shown KO power.

He showed power IMHO but throwing down in the last 10 secs of a fight like that is absolute not the way he fights normally which is much more about overwhelming with volume.

I think Max's lack of power made it easier for Volk to take the odd shot but overall outwork him on the outside were as against Topuria "taking the odd shot" became far more dangerous. You could see Volk knew that himself the way he was fighting right from the start.

This reminds me rather of Alex vs Hill, it wasnt a prolonged ass kicking but you could see one guy was nervy of the others power and then got finished by it.

 

[flektarn]

Volk just abandoned low kicks in the 2nd. He wasn't getting punished for it in the 1st.

 

[fortheo]

Volk was fighting really scared. The guy is typically a master of range, but he was throwing a lot of strikes out of range and was moving away with his head up -- two things very uncharacteristic of him. He still jabbed illia up in round one, but the stalking presence of illia was clear, and the fear in volk, even while winning the round, was clear. It just felt like unless volk started mixing up more level changes, then topuria would get to him eventually, and he did.

Beautiful win from topuria, but I don't believe that was the best version of volk.

I'm not particularly interested in an instant rematch, though. Let Volk fight Sterling or Evloev. Topuria and Max can fight in the mean time.

 

[BluntForceTrama]

A sense of domination while landing more strikes and winning the round on all three judges score cards LOL?

He was outlanding him in the second as well. One thing I missed the first time around was about a minute and a half before the end Bisping mentioned that if he kept going straight back he was going to get cornered on the fence and eat a combo...

Mystic Ping called it.

Ill admit I wasn't paying much attention to scoring rounds. My attention was directed towards observing how Top moves, cuts corners, cuts distance then out of range to where strikes become ineffective glancing shots. It seemed like Volk was throwing dirt rocks at a tank. Its the feint game that f'd Volk mostly.

 

[Ludwig von Mises]

It's important to remember that Volk was coming off a loss by high kick KO. That's something that can make you gun shy and not confident in your footing. Top caught Volk at the right time and capitalized.

 

[BluntForceTrama]

The talent disparity is even more ridiculous. The person who stops Topuria likely has wrestling as default discipline.

 

[Croton]

Although Volk technically won the first round, it felt like I was watching prey getting stalked until the finish

 

[HuskySamoan]

Volk was fighting really scared. The guy is typically a master of range, but he was throwing a lot of strikes out of range and was moving away with his head up -- two things very uncharacteristic of him. He still jabbed illia up in round one, but the stalking presence of illia was clear, and the fear in volk, even while winning the round, was clear. It just felt like unless volk started mixing up more level changes, then topuria would get to him eventually, and he did.


Beautiful win from topuria, but I don't believe that was the best version of volk.

I'm not particularly interested in an instant rematch, though. Let Volk fight Sterling or Evloev. Topuria and Max can fight in the mean time.

Yeah it's gotta be Holloway vs Ilia next, Volk vs Evloev/Aljo and then Evloev/Aljo vs Ortega. I'll be absolutely peeved if they give Ortega the title fight vs Topuria.

 

[biscuitsbrah]

Seems like the speed gave Volk some trouble. Really had a hard time finding openings, although when Topuria got aggressive he started landing pretty good before the KO.

It would have been a better fight if Volk initiated the wrestling earlier and more often. Just because one gets stuffed doesn’t mean you give up on it. When you cross the distance to punch or when Topuria comes at you, you need to stay low and initiate a clinch and just clash. You won’t get away with pulling away like how Volk did. Chin up or not he was gonna get tagged, he’s too short and doesn’t have the speed advantage to go in and out and pull on Topuria.

You know Topuria is a power puncher and the best way to take away that power is to make him tired. Gotta grapple harder, earlier. If Topuria still carries that explosive speed and power than I guess you weren’t as efficient with your grappling and there’s nothing you can do about that lol, but at least you tried

 

[Koro_11]

Agree, as good as you might think Ilia is, he's probably even better.

But you know how sherbro recency bias works, Max just knocked out a guy after pointing to the center of the octagon, so everyone's all over his nuts and are ready to just hand him the FW title and forget about Ilia.

They're in for a rude awakening if that happens imo.