Both Holloway and Volkanovski followed Topuria KO with solid performances

BrockLesnarsTurtleBack

BrockLesnarsTurtleBack

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Takes away a lot from the claim that Topuria supposedly beat them washed up.

Holloway was coming off his most iconic career performance before Topuria fight and followed up with another marque fight here.

Volkanovski retained his title immediately after Topuria switched divisions.

His wins are aging really well.
 
Does not take a lot away, no. They definitely seem to be declining, but they are still some of the best. Let's not pretend a retiring Poirier and a somewhat still green (though hungry) Diego Lopes are great benchmarks against more clinical and seasoned guys like Max and Volk.

Max is holding himself better, but that's not really surprising, given his age and his legendary chin. He's Topuria's best win.
 
They were always bullshit claims.

Idiots were going on like Max's chin was gone and Volk was too old to even compete after Topuria beat them. Imaging being dumb enough to think this stupidity about both the clear cut #1 and actual champion of the division.

Both Max and Volk looked great against Topuria. Max looked the best anyone has against him.

The reality is those two just both got caught with shots that would have KOd them or anyone else regardless of where they were in their careers. No one is eating those nukes and surviving lol.
 
BrockLesnarsTurtleBack said:
Takes away a lot from the claim that Topuria supposedly beat them washed up.

Holloway was coming off his most iconic career performance before Topuria fight and followed up with another marque fight here.

Volkanovski retained his title immediately after Topuria switched divisions.

His wins are aging really well.
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Volk did not look good in the Lopes fight. He looked clearly diminished.
 
Dr Fong said:
Volk did not look good in the Lopes fight. He looked clearly diminished.
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He looked fine considering he was up against a taller, bigger, young guy who had been hurting everyone and/or finishing them in his recent fights. He wasn't going to come in swinging like an idiot for 5 rounds, especially after he'd gotten hurt already in the fight.
 
Max beat a guy retiring who dropped him a 2nd time ever, and these dudes fought 3 TIMES already. i think Max's chin is not like it used to be, but still good. Volk got pretty battered by a guy who lost to Evloev. you can't tell me they're the same guys they were 5-6 yrs ago. nobody is.
 
xhaydenx said:
They were always bullshit claims.

Idiots were going on like Max's chin was gone and Volk was too old to even compete after Topuria beat them. Imaging being dumb enough to think this stupidity about both the clear cut #1 and actual champion of the division.

Both Max and Volk looked great against Topuria. Max looked the best anyone has against him.

The reality is those two just both got caught with shots that would have KOd them or anyone else regardless of where they were in their careers. No one is eating those nukes and surviving lol.
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Max definitely didn't look better than Jai Herbert who nearly KO'd Topuria.
 
I never considered either guy washed when they fought Ilia.

Its just in both cases circumstances favoured Ilia. Nothing wrong with that, thats the fight game.

Volk came back way too early from a bad KO and Max had to go back to reducing his weight drastically from a solid LW frame.

Now here is the question - would it have mattered if circumstances were different? Who knows, maybe not but we can only go by what happened.

I take nothing away from Ilia though, he looked fantastic against two FW legends back to back. My fighter of the year pick for 2024.

I might be in the minority, but I actually would like to see Ilia and Max again at LW. Not as the next fight, but eventually.
 
xhaydenx said:
He looked fine considering he was up against a taller, bigger, young guy who had been hurting everyone and/or finishing them in his recent fights. He wasn't going to come in swinging like an idiot for 5 rounds, especially after he'd gotten hurt already in the fight.
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It's quite some high expectancy to think he's just going to walk through a young wild animal like Lopez like it's a picnic. He had a few tough moments but all in all dominated that fight.
 
Pancake Sprawl said:
Max beat a guy retiring who dropped him a 2nd time ever, and these dudes fought 3 TIMES already. i think Max's chin is not like it used to be, but still good. Volk got pretty battered by a guy who lost to Evloev. you can't tell me they're the same guys they were 5-6 yrs ago. nobody is.
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Lopes fought Evloev on five days notice. By the way, fighters change like you said right? Well then Lopes is clearly better today than when he lost an incredibly competitive fight against the right now clear number one contender on five days notice.
 
usernamee said:
It's quite some high expectancy to think he's just going to walk through a young wild animal like Lopez like it's a picnic. He had a few tough moments but all in all dominated that fight.
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Exactly. Lopes was not Zombie or Ortega or some shit.

Volk fought smart and got the clear win.
 
usernamee said:
Lopes fought Evloev on five days notice. By the way, fighters change like you said right? Well then Lopes is clearly better today than when he lost an incredibly competitive fight against the right now clear number one contender on five days notice.
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is he? he couldn't finish Ortega after he literally had him out. the way he fought on 5 days notice was better than the way he fought fully prepared. he doesn't have the gas tank and he basically handcuffed himself vs Ortega and Volkanovski because he was afraid to blow his load.
 
i'd like to add that i don't think it diminishes Topuria's wins, at least not the one vs Max. he beat him fair and square. but you can't tell me they're better or still as good as they were BEFORE they got KO'd by Topuria. Max isn't past it, but he's got a lot of mileage. i think Volkanovski is clearly past it though. but it's not Topuria's fault that people get old, that's just the game. Khabib would've lost too if he stuck around until he was in his late 30s too.
 
Max's durability may be slightly worse now than it was before, but hes a better fighter than he was 6 years ago and any win vs him is an impressive one.
 
Volk was compromised, not washed.

He is on his way to washed though but he's still really good so his skill keeps him afloat. Shouldn't have many left in him imho.

Max showed signs of slowdown VS Yair and Volk, but he's clearly not washed, especially at LW.
 
Max is definitely Ilia’s best win. You can argue 145 Max isn’t 155 Max, but still. Volkanovski was ko’d cold by Islam.
 
Volk is definitely Ilia' best win. Max fanboys are back on the bandwagon though, acting like he's just the greatest again.

Volk beat this dude's ass 3 times and people acting like he's a better win than Volk lol nope, you're wrong.

One man has lost to Ilia and Islam. The other lost to Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor, Dennis Bermudez AND Ilia...... oh yeah, he sure is better, based on literally nothing factual lol
 
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