how did volk figure out islams grappling?

[Shay Brennan]

strength

 

[joy2day]

Some people's leg and hip muscle are just put together different than others; there is clearly a wide spectrum of natural abilities regarding TD defense, both stopping the TD and popping right back up when it happens. Obviously improving wrestling skill helps, and I'm sure Volk put a lot of work into it. But his body is just like a squatty ball of muscle that won't budge.

Chuck Lidell's biggest strength in collegiate D1 wrestling was his TD defense, and when he became a striker, it was his biggest strength in the UFC- he was good at avoiding TDs of grapplers. Chuck was very much a natural- he would either avoid the TD or pop right back up.

I think it would be a strength for Volk in competitive wrestling.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

1- Volk is really really fucking great as a fighter

2- He has a very low center of gravity and it makes it difficult to get to his hips or get "under" him in most wrestling (or even judo/greco) type of exchanges

3- Volk fought a SMARTER fight and utilized his footwork WAY more effectively.

#3 imo is where Jack severely underperformed. Jack has shown great footwork in the past and I don't know if it wad the low kicks; rib injury, or Islam just got him to freeze up but Jack ain't bring his great footwork to UFC 322.

All of this PLUS Islam was fighting at 155 where he is more naturally drained from the weight-cut, plus he had to deal with traveling to Australia and their special weigh-in rules, which further sapped him of energy/ability to fully re-hydrate.

Also Jack got his calf torn to shreds inside 1.5 rounds - Islam landed like 5 super legit calf kicks where he didn't check and had all his weight on his left leg because he thought he could mirror a southpaw even though he's an orthodox fighter that switch-hits and hasn't had to deal with southpaws that can low kick.

 

[jeff7b9]

All of this PLUS Islam was fighting at 155 where he is more naturally drained from the weight-cut, plus he had to deal with traveling to Australia and their special weigh-in rules, which further sapped him of energy/ability to fully re-hydrate.

Also Jack got his calf torn to shreds inside 1.5 rounds - Islam landed like 5 super legit calf kicks where he didn't check and had all his weight on his left leg because he thought he could mirror a southpaw even though he's an orthodox fighter that switch-hits and hasn't had to deal with southpaws that can low kick.

I was analyzing the matchup prior and one of the MAJOR keys to any sort of success I thought would be JDM using his choice of stance to dictate range and weapons (Islam has WAY less tools available against southpaw, hence his struggle with Dustin and Volk who is a solid switch hitter)

Islam shut that shit the fuck down with quickness. Hats off to that.


Really I think Volks stock went way up this weekend

Jack's lack of elite tier experience showed. He is young enough to go back to the drawing board and rebuild. His footwork WHEN HE USES IT- is beautiful. But Islam and team solved that in impressive fashion.

As Terry Silver would say

Man can't stand he can't fight

 

[laleggenda27]

1. Volk is a MUCH better grappler than JDM.
2. Volk is MUCH more skilled than JDM overall.
3. Volk's frame, in combination with his skill and strength, is very difficult to take and hold down.

Islam-JDM was more of a referendum on JDM rather than being particularly impressive for Islam. JDM is VERY unproven against elite opposition. Outside of the Belal fight, JDM has struggled against mid-level and/or declining fighters (Burns, Holland, Hafez). To put it into perspective, Dustin and Volk were MUCH tougher fights for Islam than JDM was.

 

[Alpha_T83]

He's strong and I think being short helps. If wrestlers need to dip half a foot lower to get to your hips, it does make it more difficult to get the takedown.

 

[TankAbbott4Eva]

Volk's strong as fuck. Being super heavy at one point of his life playing rugby definitely plays a factor.

JDM played rugby too I believe, he’s actually a very good grappler too, Islam and Volk on a different level though clearly

 

[Fact Checker]

Mak had a brutal weight cut and less rehydration period in Australia. Physically looked depleted.


Then he just flat out chinned Volk.


Looks like he figured it out.

 

[nostradumbass]

You should maybe rewatch that fight. Volk was able to stop a few TDs but still got taken down in all of the first 4 rounds, took his back and Volk couldn't get up until the round was done in 2 of those, and there wasn't any time that Volk took him down

He did a good job avoiding submissions, and even worked his way back to the feet in rounds 2 and 3, but it seems a lot of people pretend the grappling was more competitive than it was because they expected him to get completely steamrolled when he was #1 p4p at the time.

 

[Mammothman]

Islam had a bad weight cut and Volk had the preparation of his life, not mention that Volk is also really fucking good too.

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

Volk is a very good fighter, but another important thing is the way he is built, he is like a tank.. short and well built, has some meat on the bones. JDM is very slim compared to Volk, doesn't look like a strong guy to me. He has that long range point fighting size to him. But Volk is different much more compact and remember he used to play Rugby at 220 Ibs.