Have topuria's opponents been one dimensional thus far?

[HuskySamoan]

I think it’s a GSP scenario all over again.

Towards the end GSP still had the best blend of tools, but he wasn’t as fast, durable or confident.

It was still good enough to beat the best even while declining, but his performances dipped noticeably and the blend of tools became less impactful.

So the question to me is do we think Volk is at that tipping point already? It’s similar to Hendricks vs GSP in a lot of regards, so I’d expect a close fight regardless of outcome.

Well put. I think injuries caught up to GSP too, he had two knee surgeries that we know about. Beyond that, he was at the top for soooo long and quite wealthy, I don't believe he kept that same drive he had when he was young working on the back of garbage trucks and catching busses to NYC to train at Nurses and Renzos where he'd sleep in drug hostels because he didn't have the money for a hotel.

 

[Substance Abuse]

I'm kinda glad he didn't fight Holloway lol because then he wouldn't be fighting Volk. Holloway is probably the worst match up for Topuria imo

Honestly, I wish they never gave Allen the Holloway fight. Max should be fighting guys like KZ, Giga, Edson, etc. if he wanted to stick around Featherweight. Don't get me wrong, Max is my favorite fighter, but Volkanovski has soundly beat him twice. Other guys deserved their chance.

 

[Xoleth]

I will root for Volk.
I agree that Ilia's resume is not much.
But, like Black9 said, his abilities are evolving.
He seems to have great boxing.
He is good on the ground.
Good chin, good cardio.
His kicking defense seems to be his only weaker point.

 

[Banana Tree's Nemesis]

Ilia is a weird one, because he really does make specific gameplans for his opponents. There are of course similarities to how he fights, like the emphasis on body shots and the way he puts together punch combinations, but there really aren't many fighters out there that change their style to that degree from fight to fight.

In that regard I'm with you. At least I think that's what you're on about - How does he fight against someone who is dangerous in every single aspect of the game?
My best guess would be that he chooses an area where he thinks he has the most significant skill advantage and builds up on that. One might think that he would rely on being a better striker, but I actually am not sure he is that diluted. I think he will actually put a ton a forward pressure and look for opportunistic takedowns if Volk decides to meet him in the middle.

I'm most curious whether he will adopt the philly-shell-ish style he chose against Emmett, because that obviously changes a lot for Volk. I would think that it wouldn't be a great choice in regard to the front leg being very vulnerable and Volks being a strong leg kicker. But I could also see how they may think they can steal a round or two in the beginning, fighting off a jab and then pulling back a bit, relying on his defense and Volks being forced to move forward and Ilia starting to play defense and counter with combinations at that point. Tough prediction though.
I think it's somewhat realistic for both of them to come in with a plan to either prefer striking or grappling exchanges, which makes this a mess to anticipate with any confidence.

There are three minor things that I think will have a big impact on how that fight will look.
- Can Volks find the lead kick
- Can Ilia find the bodyshots without getting countered
- Ilias low stance. He really moves his head a bit and he sits very low. Volks is a cardio machine and if he manages to force Ilia to move a lot, Ilia's cardio might fade.


Ilia's team is obviously not stupid, but I could see how they have so much confidence in Ilia being 'better everywhere' that they forget that cardio is a weapon too.

 

[MechMA]

It's also perceived to be a 50/50 fight due to Volkanovski’s age at the weight class and the fact that he's coming off a brutal knockout, surgery and has disclosed a drinking problem.

And yes, Topuria's resume is not all that great and the fighters he's fought aren't all that well rounded, but all he can do is beat the guys they put in front of him and he's done so with flying colors. The UFC would have risked killing another contender if they had him fight Holloway, Evloev or Allen. The division needs contenders. They finally did something right.

Stole the words out of my mouth.

As a Volk fan I am worried.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

After sleeping on it I think we should discus the flip-side of the equation - who has Volk fought that is similar to Topuria?

The closest in terms of build is Chad Mendes, who was able to knockdown and force a chaotic brawl with Volk; Topuria doesn't have the same explosive wrestling threat, but has almost the same type of power with a far more layered and diverse striking game.

But there is really no one similar in style that Volk fought - Islam uses the traditional southpaw double threat (straight left or left round kick played off a jab), Holloway likes to probe with a jab and cut angles, Yair likes to throw random shit (especially kicks) with no set-up, TKZ wants to create a brawl where he can land power counters.

Topuria is more of a true pocket boxer that wants to snipe with power and has shown some really nice and powerful outside calf kicks. So while it's true Topuria has never fought an opponent with a layered and diverse game, it's also true that Volk has never really fought a prime powerful pocket-boxer.

 

[fortheo]

After sleeping on it I think we should discus the flip-side of the equation - who has Volk fought that is similar to Topuria?

The closest in terms of build is Chad Mendes, who was able to knockdown and force a chaotic brawl with Volk; Topuria doesn't have the same explosive wrestling threat, but has almost the same type of power with a far more layered and diverse striking game.

But there is really no one similar in style that Volk fought - Islam uses the traditional southpaw double threat (straight left or left round kick played off a jab), Holloway likes to probe with a jab and cut angles, Yair likes to throw random shit (especially kicks) with no set-up, TKZ wants to create a brawl where he can land power counters.

Topuria is more of a true pocket boxer that wants to snipe with power and has shown some really nice and powerful outside calf kicks. So while it's true Topuria has never fought an opponent with a layered and diverse game, it's also true that Volk has never really fought a prime powerful pocket-boxer.

I'd say outside of Mendes, it would be the boxing heavy version of Aldo that volk fought. Aldo liked to stalk opponents, cut them off and force them to come at him in straight lines like topuria. Aldo also threw nasty left hooks to the body and had a good right hand like topuria. Aldo He was also 5'7 and probably even faster than topuria. He didn't throw as much volume as topuria, though, as he was a bit more willing to try to draw his opponents attacks out for counters.

 

[13Seconds]

I was talking to my brother and he mentioned that topuria has only faced one dimensional fighters thus far in the ufc:

Zalal: point fighting kickboxer
Jackson: scrappy grappler
Hall: bjj guy
Herbert: kickboxer
Mitchel: grappler
Emmett: brawler

Who is the most well rounded guy topuria has faced in your opinion? What are you topuria fans most worried about going into this fight?

I'm very curious to see topuria go from facing guys like that to facing one of the most well rounded guys in the entire sport.

I see what you're saying but I don't know if we can chalk all these guys down as one dimensional. That might be some 2010 thinking.

The scariest performance of Topuria was vs Mitchell imo. The way he ragdolled the dude on the ground. Obviously Volk is the best fighter he ever faced but im just saying, we don't know how good Ilia is yet. We'll find out soon.

I got Volk.

 

[fortheo]

I see what you're saying but I don't know if we can chalk all these guys down as one dimensional. That might be some 2010 thinking.

The scariest performance of Topuria was vs Mitchell imo. The way he ragdolled the dude on the ground. Obviously Volk is the best fighter he ever faced but im just saying, we don't know how good Ilia is yet. We'll find out soon.

I got Volk.

Topuria handedly won that one, but I was actually shocked to see him accept being on his back with little effort of trying to get back up, and even more shocked that Bryce Mitchell of all people was landing on him at a higher rate than any of topuria's other opponents. That fight is actually why I'm wondering how topuria will do against another guy who will mix takedowns in, but also be a diverse striking threat like volk.

I can see illia catching volk, but I can't shake the feeling that volk might just shut the boxing range down and slowly pick illia apart and break him.

We'll see.

 

[13Seconds]

Topuria handedly won that one, but I was actually shocked to see him accept being on his back with little effort of trying to get back up, and even more shocked that Bryce Mitchell of all people was landing on him at a higher rate than any of topuria's other opponents. That fight is actually why I'm wondering how topuria will do against another guy who will mix takedowns in, but also be a diverse striking threat like volk.

I can see illia catching volk, but I can't shake the feeling that volk might just shut the boxing range down and slowly pick illia apart and break him.

We'll see.

Interesting perspective. Haven't watched that one since it aired live so all the technical aspects might be foggy for me. Just remember his brute strength in that one. When he actually committed.

Then again Volk might be p4p the strongest dude in the game. Just looking at them both in the staredown, Volk looks like if you put a MW dowm to FW with a bit of editing. That's a dense mofo and it shows in his fights. That combined with his cardio... Ilia is in trouble imo

 

[Liverkick-king56]

I'd say outside of Mendes, it would be the boxing heavy version of Aldo that volk fought. Aldo liked to stalk opponents, cut them off and force them to come at him in straight lines like topuria. Aldo also threw nasty left hooks to the body and had a good right hand like topuria. Aldo He was also 5'7 and probably even faster than topuria. He didn't throw as much volume as topuria, though, as he was a bit more willing to try to draw his opponents attacks out for counters.

Before he dropped to BW Aldo was never really effective at constantly pressuring his opponents. Aldo is a defence 1st guy and I think with how heavily Volk feints it limited Aldo’s options to attack off of the counter or even a wild blitz.

If Aldo fought Emmett I’d think he’d batter him to hell but he wouldn’t be able to stay in Emmett’s face the same way Topuria did without gassing and he’d probably sit back a touch more behind his (GOAT level) defence. That approach will stop Volk from his preferred feint heavy fight that he’s mastered that Aldo allowed.

I might sound crazy but the way Topuria fights reminds me of the Volk that broke Mendes. If I had to compare Topuria to somebody it would be a younger Volk.

 

[fortheo]

Before he dropped to BW Aldo was never really effective at constantly pressuring his opponents. Aldo is a defence 1st guy and I think with how heavily Volk feints it limited Aldo’s options to attack off of the counter or even a wild blitz.

If Aldo fought Emmett I’d think he’d batter him to hell but he wouldn’t be able to stay in Emmett’s face the same way Topuria did without gassing and he’d probably sit back a touch more behind his (GOAT level) defence. That approach will stop Volk from his preferred feint heavy fight that he’s mastered that Aldo allowed.

I might sound crazy but the way Topuria fights reminds me of the Volk that broke Mendes. If I had to compare Topuria to somebody it would be a younger Volk.

He started coming forward more after losing his belt, which largely resulted in him getting his first two finishes in a long time right before the volk fight, but yeah, he's obviously not a perfect replica of illia because he waits far more.

You might sound crazy, or you might be right. I haven't seen a lot of things from illia yet, but maybe he'll show me on saturday

 

[cshireman4]

I agree with the initial assessment. We will find out a lot about him in this title fight. Not saying you are insinuating that he won't be able to handle a well-rounded guy, but [insert boilerplate absence of evidence is NOT evidence of absence sherdog comment here].

I like Ilia, but do think Volk will be too much. Versatile fighter, insane gas tank, durable as they come and just on another level skill wise when compared to anyone else in the division. Topuria "doesn't know what he doesn't know" but he is about to find out. I'd expect an L on Saturday to make him a significantly more dangerous fighter moving forward.