Media Volk Interview : "I Wanna See How Easily He Breaks When Things Don't Go To Plan”

[fortheo]

Some sparse Cliffs:

• Glad khabib and islam called him out in the cage.
• Happy that he got to experience a whole fight week with them and feel their presence in the arena/octagon.
• Says islam is a big strong wrestler, but he's been training with wrestlers bigger than him all of his life.
• In regards to Islam constantly calling him short, volk responds "you think the last 25 people I beat didn't think or say that? You're just saying something everyone else has said"
• He thinks Islam is kind of underestimating him in a sense because of the size difference, which might shock islam when they face off in the octagon becaus volk is going to be in front of him, making him uncomfortable on the feet, and then when he tries to grab volk, islam will realize volk isn't as weak as he thought, and all of this will start to break islam, and volk wants to see his face when that happens.
• He puts himself in the shittiest positions possible in camp. He won't be phased by what islam brings.
• Wants to see how islam reacts when the short man gets back up and punches him in the face.

What volk brings that other past opponents of Islam didn't bring:

• Volk is not going to stand in front of him. Nothing but respect to charles, but he's there to be hit. Volk is not.
• Islam will be trying to figure out a puzzle in front of him. The movement is going to be difficult, he'll try to grab a leg, but he has to be in the right position to feel comfortable enough to shoot, and he won't feel that straight away, and he'll become desperate.
• Islam hasn't faced anyone with the calculated footwork that volk has.
• Volk's confident in his ability to stuff takedowns and get back to his feet.
• Everyone thinks Volk is small and short, but within 10 seconds he sees his opponents looking uncomfortable and confused.
• Volk mentions "It's funny because they think they're the only guys that's just wrestled or something, as if we haven't been training wrestling...."

 

[Thesnake101]

Truth be told, amongst the current top contenders at LW, Volk might be the toughest fight for Islam just based on his skill alone.

We'll see how he's able to deal with the grappling, but on the feet he's ahead of Poirier, Justin, Chandler and Charles, so I'm hoping for a good fight.

 

[ineverpost]

Islam will touch him, he will fall over and he will not be able to get back to his feet.

 

[LFAHFN22]

What Volk did to Holloway in their last fight was incredible. Volk would step into the pocket, throw 4-5 shots, and disappear, in the amount of time it took Holloway to throw a single shot.

Having said that, I'm not sure how effective that will be without true knockout power. Unlike Holloway, Islam will look to grab you.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Volk's skill is top tier. He's he's got brass balls for taking on this challenge. He's going to get bullied in there, however. I would love to be wrong and witness a huge upset, but as I've said time and time again, I think it's a bridge too far Alexander. In MMA crazy shit happens all the time, so while Volk winning is possible, it's highly unlikely.

Thanks for the cliffs, TS. Great job @fortheo

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

The Dagestani fight mascot is a dwarf. They are also mostly under 6ft. Not sure why Islam is making this a height thing. Volk on a wrestling heavy training camp could offer islam a lot of problems.

 

[Tweak896]

I know my mind would blow if I see Volk stuffing Islam. He sounds confident lets see what happens. I just can't not see Islam taking him down easily, but we really don't know Volk's TDD as well as his other aspects of his game. Shorter guys are harder to takedown as well.

 

[HuskySamoan]

It feels pretty hard to buy into Volk having much of a chance. I want to believe but there's not much evidence to go off of. Volk hasn't fought many takedown artists in his career and the guys he did face like Ortega took him down twice, Mendes took him down three times and Elkins even took him down. Besides Mendes, who was well past his prime, none of those guys I hold in high regard as wrestlers.

No one really tries to wrestle Volk at 145lbs and there's really not many top flights grapplers with strong takedown games at 145lbs. I mean Evloev and Mitchell potentially but they haven't crossed paths with Volk. Alex can have the best camp of his life but 4 months preparation is a drop in the bucket for a guy like Islam....whos so much bigger, stronger and the elite of elite at getting the takedown and being ontop.

 

[true_fan]

Islam will play with Volk just like if he was his child and sub him without hurting him too much. It’s gonna be comical

 

[fortheo]

Volk's skill is top tier. He's he's got brass balls for taking on this challenge. He's going to get bullied in there, however. I would love to be wrong and witness a huge upset, but as I've said time and time again, I think it's a bridge too far Alexander. In MMA crazy shit happens all the time, so while Volk winning is possible, it's highly unlikely.

Thanks for the cliffs, TS. Great job @fortheo

Out of all of Islam's past opponents, alex has the best skillset and probably the best camp available to help him prepare for Islam. His preparation is like GSP level in how thorough it is, essentially pulling resources from freestyle fighting gym, ckb, tiger muy thai, and bringing in other guys from various locations. The size difference is real, though. I know many people are counting him out, but I'm very interested in this fight.

 

[mjfan23]

The Dagestani fight mascot is a dwarf. They are also mostly under 6ft. Not sure why Islam is making this a height thing. Volk on a wrestling heavy training camp could offer islam a lot of problems.

They all now have the khamzat syndrome and think they are bigger and stronger than all their opponents forgetting khamzat is not dagestani or a Manlet like them

 

[fortheo]

It feels pretty hard to buy into Volk having much of a chance. I want to believe but there's not much evidence to go off of. Volk hasn't fought many takedown artists in his career and the guys he did face like Ortega took him down twice, Mendes took him down three times and Elkins even took him down. Besides Mendes, who was well past his prime, none of those guys I hold in high regard as wrestlers.

No one really tries to wrestle Volk at 145lbs and there's really not many top flights grapplers with strong takedown games at 145lbs. I mean Evloev and Mitchell potentially but they haven't crossed paths with Volk. Alex can have the best camp of his life but 4 months preparation is a drop in the bucket for a guy like Islam....whos so much bigger, stronger and the elite of elite at getting the takedown and being ontop.

All true, but volk hasn't told us a lie yet throughout his career! We'll have to see it to believe it though. I'm with you on that one.

 

[ExitLUPin]

• Says islam is a big strong wrestler, but he's been training with wrestlers bigger than him all of his life.

Yeah that point by Volk doesnt mean anything if he doesnt apply it properly in fights....



Much weaker and worse wrestlers than Islam have tied up with Volk, gotten him down and in bad positions including being nearly strangled.

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

What Volk did to Holloway in their last fight was incredible. Volk would step into the pocket, throw 4-5 shots, and disappear, in the amount of time it took Holloway to throw a single shot.

Having said that, I'm not sure how effective that will be without true knockout power. Unlike Holloway, Islam will look to grab you.

Islam is not slow like max and has the power to put volk on his ass if he goes in thinking I did this and that to max. Also volk, outside of zombie who was literally a walking punching bag, does not KO power at 145 let alone 155.

 

[Lights Out 101]

Volk is just oozing confidence here and doesn't have an ounce of self doubt. He's a dangerous man and regardless of what the majority thinks, I like his chances. I'm done doubting him after the third Holloway fight.

Respect to a great champion who's going out there to challenge himself rather than wracking up easy defences at FW.

 

[Vogg]

Truth be told, amongst the current top contenders at LW, Volk might be the toughest fight for Islam just based on his skill alone.

We'll see how he's able to deal with the grappling, but on the feet he's ahead of Poirier, Justin, Chandler and Charles, so I'm hoping for a good fight.

Beating up punch drunk Hawaiians and shopworn Koreans isn’t a skillset favorable vs Islam.

 

[Substance Abuse]

Out of all of Islam's past opponents, alex has the best skillset and probably the best camp available to help him prepare for Islam. His preparation is like GSP level in how thorough it is, essentially pulling resources from freestyle fighting gym, ckb, tiger muy thai, and bringing in other guys from various locations. The size difference is real, though. I know many people are counting him out, but I'm very interested in this fight.

His footwork is exceptional. He can cut angles in and out quickly, hit and not get hit, but he's just too small. I could see him pot shotting his way to a victory in some way, shape or form in mind, but it's likelihood is miniscule. I don't think he'll be able to kick with the threat of the takedown and Islam will get a hold of him and at the very least push him into the cage to initiate grappling before the takedown. I'm worried about him being able to get up with a guy that big and strong on top of him. It's intriguing but that's only if it isn't predictable.

 

[fortheo]

Yeah that point by Volk doesnt mean anything if he doesnt apply it properly in fights....



Much weaker and worse wrestlers than Islam have tied up with Volk, gotten him down and in bad positions including being nearly strangled.

Bro, Volk won all of those fights pretty dominantly. It's like me saying Volk will crush Islam with a jab because ramos staggered him with a jab.

 

[Viking Power]

I’m more excited for this than for any of the other LW contenders vs Islam. Even Dariush, who is really, really good…I just don’t see it being a tough out for Islam.

 

[fortheo]

His footwork is exceptional. He can cut angles in and out quickly, hit and not get hit, but he's just too small. I could see him pot shotting his way to a victory in some way shape or form in mind, but it's likelihood is miniscule. I don't think he'll be able to kick with the threat of the takedown and Islam will get a hold of him and at the very least push him into the cage to initiate grappling before the takedown. I'm worried about him being able to get up with a guy that big and strong on top of him. It's intriguing but that's only if it isn't predictable.

That's a fair breakdown for sure. I still think Volk is islam's biggest challenge since Tsarukyan, who himself was a short fire hydrant of a man. We'll see how it goes. I'm excited for this fight.