Wild statistic regarding Illia Topuria’s professional UFC career

[NationWideNinja]

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 UFC 199 was truly a magically violent card.

Dariush laying out Vick
Ortega losing to Guida and finding the finish in the final round
Poirier smacking the shit out of Green
Hendo and Lombard in an insane war that ends with Hendo borderline murdering him
Holloway vs Lamas last 10 seconds swanging and banging
And like it wasnt crazy enough already, Bisping upsetting Rockhold by KTFO'ing him and becoming the MW champ

 

[Skarsgard]

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

Funny enough, the head kick did fuck-all. It was the elbow that did it.

 

[snaportap21]

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

This and the 2nd shogun ko are two of my favorite Henderson finishes. He was great at creating ko’s from awkward positions. The fedor ko is another one. He’s so good at capitalizing on opening most probably wouldn’t have seen being in that same situation.

 

[Trabaho]

I never saw someone not ever throw anything but low kicks in mma. Interesting indeed

 

[StonedLemur]

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.

He mixed it pretty good against Bryce tbf.

 

[fortheo]

He mixed it pretty good against Bryce tbf.

did he? Seemed like he defended a takedown from bryce then countered it with his own. He didn't strike to set up a takedown, then come up with more strikes, didn't feint the takedown and work off of it etc etc.

 

[StonedLemur]

did he? Seemed like he defended a takedown from bryce then countered it with his own. He didn't strike to set up a takedown, then come up with more strikes, didn't feint the takedown and work off of it etc etc.

He started boxing and then out grappled a guy everyone was on his dick for being a great grappler.
He beat him on his feet and then beat him on the ground, that's mixing it up as far as im concerned.

I mean maybe he didn't do it in the sequence you described, but still

 

[fortheo]

He started boxing and then out grappled a guy everyone was on his dick for being a great grappler.
He beat him on his feet and then beat him on the ground, that's mixing it up as far as im concerned.

I mean maybe he didn't do it in the sequence you described, but still

Yeah, like I said, he's a good boxer and good wrestler and good at bjj lol. I just meant I don't see him using one to set up the other. It's like boxing mode, oh, we're grappling now, disengage, boxing mode now! you know what I mean?

It's not necessarily a bad thing. It works for him obviously.

 

[StonedLemur]

Yeah, like I said, he's a good boxer and good wrestler and good at bjj lol. I just meant I don't see him using one to set up the other. It's like boxing mode, oh, we're grappling now, disengage, boxing mode now! you know what I mean?

It's not necessarily a bad thing. It works for him obviously.

Yeah that makes sense sir.

 

[ipowerslapmywife]

He’ll get outboxed by Volk

 

[Arm Barbarian]

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

Hendo was the master of "what is dead, STAYS dead."

Never missed an opportunity to create extra CTE for an unconscious opponent.

But Lombard is certainly one that no one will cry over getting NDEed and tossed into the casket.

 

[Goutfather]

is there a stat for his kicking defense? checking low kicks?

 

[NoSmilez]

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

Drug testing got him. He seemed a little flat in the UFC especially after he got popped in 2015.

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

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

Damn Hendo is such a G. Truly savage, an MMA GOAT IMO

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

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.

great post, yeah I agree, and hope Volk is patient in his approach; cerebral

 

[NoSmilez]

I think Diaz bros don't really kick either. I mean they try to do stuff but it's bullshit. I don't think they expect to land those kicks.

Rampage is another one that doesn't really kick even though he started out training MT early on. I remember watching his kickboxing fight a long time ago and he didn't throw much outside of some knees.

 

[Pancake Sprawl]

This and the 2nd shogun ko are two of my favorite Henderson finishes. He was great at creating ko’s from awkward positions. The fedor ko is another one. He’s so good at capitalizing on opening most probably wouldn’t have seen being in that same situation.

it's kind of weird how shit his wrestling was in MMA but how uncanny his striking was in exchanges/scrambles. i never really thought about it until reading your post but he's knocked a lot of guys out in the middle of exchanges or during scrambles. the Fedor, Renzo Gracie, and 2nd Shogun KO's were some of the most strangest KO's from scrambles. i don't think anyone has replicated those KO's or even tried those strikes before or since in any organization.

 

[Kryptt]

 

[Blanqa Blanqua]

View attachment 1029145

Thread title updated. TY @Kryptt

 

[snaportap21]

it's kind of weird how shit his wrestling was in MMA but how uncanny his striking was in exchanges/scrambles. i never really thought about it until reading your post but he's knocked a lot of guys out in the middle of exchanges or during scrambles. the Fedor, Renzo Gracie, and 2nd Shogun KO's were some of the most strangest KO's from scrambles. i don't think anyone has replicated those KO's or even tried those strikes before or since in any organization.

For someone with Henderson’s credentials, he often got outwrestled later on in his career. It was almost like once he reached a certain age he forgot how to wrestle. And yea, his ability to generate power from weird angles was completely elite. They weren’t pretty, but they got the job done. Also, robbie lawler ko’d koscheck in a similar way to the renzo gracie henderson ko. Besides that I can’t think of another ko like that.