News Alexander Volkanovski vs. Max Holloway 2 expected to headline UFC 251

[GordonMMARamsey]

Who cares about that stale match up?
Max is a delusional crybaby I hope he loses again

How do you figure? Dude went on Rogans podcast and said "I thought I did enough to win. I haven't had a chance to rewatch it though. If the judges say he won, he won. I'm healthy, I'm happy, it is what it is, I cant wait to fight again" - if that's a "delusional crybaby" then what does that make guys like Reyes and Santos?

 

[dragomanrd]

Why so many rematches from clear cut matches. So sick of it. Not to mention there are so many other contenders that could have a shot, but waiting for two fights to be over, basically means one challenger per year.

And what if the rematch is a close battle?

Many years ago, GSP had to have two fights before he got his rematch. And it created a much more compelling story and champion in the long run. Why have they changed to this myopic policy?

 

[Osiris3657]

Yawn

 

[Rek Rekington]

Dumb rematch.

 

[usernamee]

UFC screwed Holloway with the bullshit interim fight with Dustin. Hasn't looked the same since.

 

[fortheo]

I think if Max takes Volk seriously he can pull it off, but he'll definitely need to have a plan B up his sleeve.

The thing is, I don't think max even forced volk to use his plan B. I'm sure Max will make adjustments, but I'm pretty sure volkanovski's bag of tricks is much deeper than Max's.

 

[tjumper78]

i dont like it. what if max wins a close decision? we're gonna have no choice but to watch the 3rd fight while the rest of the division ducks each other.

 

[Joseph_McBride]

Romero, Aldo and now this.
Fuck the UFC matchmakers.

Costa, Cannonier, & Rob are all injured for the foreseeable future, who else but Yoel should have gotten the shot?

Or Should Izzy sit out for a year instead of being a healthy active champ? My God sherdoggers complain about everything.

 

[winkydinks]

I'm shocked to see why that surprised a lot of people. Was clear from the minute the fight ended they're gonna go that route. It doesn't help that noone in the division has clear case to fight for the title next. The UFC has to make a clear cut no.1 contender fight before 251 so we can finally get the fresh matchups.

KZ has a clear case. Dusted Moicano and Edgar, and was one second away from a decision win over Yair before he fell victim to one of the flukiest knockouts in UFC history. A title shot for him is way more justifiable than one for Aldo or Romero is.

 

[TrueBias]

shit. hopefully one gets sick

Hahah, yeah, to think in this day and age, secret substitute fights are whats worth looking forward for!

 

[Fahcough]

Hahah, yeah, to think in this day and age, secret substitute fights are whats worth looking forward for!

gone are the days Cowboy says he knows a guy and we get pumped up

 

[Liverkick-king56]

The thing is, I don't think max even forced volk to use his plan B. I'm sure Max will make adjustments, but I'm pretty sure volkanovski's bag of tricks is much deeper than Max's.

His gameplan seemed entirely based on keeping out of boxing range for any prolonged time.... If Max forced him to fight within that range I don't think Volk could compete in that range

But

Max showed no fight IQ to adjust (which is weird for Max). I think his ego has been getting the best of him and he's over confident in his hands alone when the real reason his stand up was so good was because he was dynamic. Max beat up Stephans in every range and avoided boxing while he murdered Swanson with elbows and the full tool box.
Without knowing if Max has made the proper adjustments Volk seems like the safe bet

 

[Liverkick-king56]

KZ has a clear case. Dusted Moicano and Edgar, and was one second away from a decision win over Yair before he fell victim to one of the flukiest knockouts in UFC history. A title shot for him is way more justifiable than one for Aldo or Romero is.

Yair finished him in a competitive fight, Yair could easily be ahead of him.
Yair landed like 5 spinning elbows through out the fight, that elbow was a fluke. KZ kept running into them... anyways that's not the point. The point is nobody has a clear case.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Gonna go with the same outcome, Volk by decision.. don't see much changing.

 

[Osiris3657]

Yair finished him in a competitive fight, Yair could easily be ahead of him.
Yair landed like 5 spinning elbows through out the fight, that elbow was a fluke. KZ kept running into them... anyways that's not the point. The point is nobody has a clear case.

No he wasn't, idiot. Here's the actual scorecard. KZ would have won.

 

[Liverkick-king56]

No he wasn't, idiot. Here's the actual scorecard. KZ would have won.

I meant in the title chase Yair could be ahead of him.

KZ was winning and I had it 2-2 going into the 5th and KZ was certainly winning that round too. I just don't think the elbow was fluky and it was a pretty close fight. If you call the finish fluky, you're calling every spinning elbow on a charging KZ he landed fluky too which all had potential to finish the fight too


The only round the judges agree on is round 4. It was a close fight and short notice for Yair.
So if we want to add some "he was winning until he lost BS" we have to add that Yair didn't have time to prepare

 

[MigitAs]

Max is in a similar situation as Deontay Wilder. He didn’t get finished but it was pretty clear who won the fight. He’s gonna have to look like a different guy in there or he’s gonna lose again for sure.

 

[emog2]

WTF is this shit
He got dominated for 5 rounds

Dana cant handle his loss
He put so much time and money to Max being featherweight goat bs

 

[B-Man]

I really don't get why this has been booked. There was absolutely nothing controversial about the first fight, let Max win a fight or two before getting a shot. It's booking like this that's really turning me off of the UFC.

 

[winkydinks]

Yair finished him in a competitive fight, Yair could easily be ahead of him.
Yair landed like 5 spinning elbows through out the fight, that elbow was a fluke. KZ kept running into them... anyways that's not the point. The point is nobody has a clear case.

Putting it as plainly as "Yair finished him in a competitive fight" lacks zero context. You admit that the finishing elbow was a fluke, which it was, but the time he landed it was just as flukey, if not flukier. For one, Yair and KZ had simultaneously stopped fighting seconds from the end in a moment of sportsmanship, and only resumed their engagement when the ref told them to continue fighting. Left to their own devices, the fight would've ended in a decision. Because they weren't, KZ got knocked out with one measly second left. KZ was in fact officially up on the scorecards, so idk how the specific strikes Yair landed up to that point, i.e. the five spinning elbows, are relevant. My point is that this loss detracts much less, if anything, from his resume compared to what a normal one would, given the fact that a fight he was about to win ending like this is beyond, both in method and time, an aberration.

Detroying Moicano and Edgar, who were ranked higher they are now, carries significantly more weight than anything anybody else in the division has done recently. KZ was also scheduled to fight Ortega too before Brian pulled out. No idea how the guy isn't in the #2 contender slot rn. With his only significant win being a decision over Aldo, I'd argue that Volkanovski had done less to earn his shot than what KZ has done now.