How was Volk able to survive Islam on the ground?

[BroScienceTalkatWork]

I haven’t watched that fight in a while, but I also feel like Islam improved since then

All the other Islam fights I’ve seen; he submitted or got a KO super quick

His wrestling is good enough that he’s obviously gonna take Ilia down. I’d Volk considered better on the ground? Or as a defensive wrestler? I’d imagine he’s a bit stronger

 

[188912345]

Ilia started out as a grappler, he has more submissions than KO's so I'm assuming he's not so easy to finish on the ground.

Seems to have good takedown defense and scrambles as well.

Islam should probably be using a lot of kicks and then try to time a good entry for a takedown. Also, he should avoid getting backed up into the cage.

 

[fortheo]

Volk is a wrestler and a bjj black belt that trains with some of the best wrestling coaches for mma (the hickman bros) and one of the best Bjj coaches (Craig jones). They do their homework.

People forget that the vast majority of volk's career was him taking people down and beating them up. He only became known as a striker once he started facing guys like Mendes, Aldo, and Max -- guys who have great TDD.

 

[BroScienceTalkatWork]

Ilia started out as a grappler, he has more submissions than KO's so I'm assuming he's not so easy to finish on the ground.

Seems to have good takedown defense and scrambles as well.

Islam should probably be using a lot of kicks and then try to time a good entry for a takedown. Also, he should avoid getting backed up into the cage.

I’ve seen more Ilia fights than Islam. Great takedown defense; I just don’t remember seeing him fight off the ground much besides the Bryce Mitchell fight

he’ll have to survive a round like that without getting submitted

I’m picking Islam until it gets to -400

 

[Cowboy Kurt Angle]

Because when your a top 10 fighter of all time you are special, it also helped that Islam is a massive fucking LW and Austria had very strict rehydration rules so Islam was drained

 

[World eater]

Volk is a dwarf with high constitution.

 

[flektarn]

Volk trains with cregggg jones. He's not going to get caught in a d'arce or ninja choke and they're going to be more difficult to latch on to since Volk isn't going to get wobbled on the feet and then fall into one.
Islam also took Volk's back in a round or two which isn't nearly as dominant as people believe. RNC defense is holding one of the guy's arms and nothing's going to happen except you losing the round. And that's what happened.

 

[rjmbrd]

I’ve seen more Ilia fights than Islam. Great takedown defense; I just don’t remember seeing him fight off the ground much besides the Bryce Mitchell fight

His first UFC fight against Youssef Zalal. This fight is effectively Ilia showcasing his wrestling and submission skills. Topuria went for something like 5 discrete submission attempts - its obvious the dude has a very sophisticated ground game.

A few times he was reversed and we saw some guard work and get-ups. He has the combination of top-class athletism to go with his skill level.

All UFC fighters below 185lbs are excellent athletes, however Ilia is legimiately gifted.

he’ll have to survive a round like that without getting submitted

I’m picking Islam until it gets to -400

The size gap between Ilia and Islam is going to be enormous. I have no doubt Topuria will maintain his punching power and be a hitter at 155lbs, but I have a doubt his grappling physicality will be the same.

 

[tritestill]

Volk is world class, a legend, and a true champion. That's how

 

[Neck&Neck]

Volk has that wombat strength

 

[Mammothman]

Volk is an skilled freak that's why, so is Ilia and so is Islam.

 

[Contempt]

Because when your a top 10 fighter of all time you are special, it also helped that Islam is a massive fucking LW and Austria had very strict rehydration rules so Islam was drained

Austria?

 

[legcramp]

The fight is going to look like GSP vs Penn 2

 

[maximus__]

Because when your a top 10 fighter of all time you are special, it also helped that Islam is a massive fucking LW and Austria had very strict rehydration rules so Islam was drained

All fighters had the same rehydration time. Remember Islam's team mate missed weight on that card.
They still had 24 hours to rehydrate. The main difference as pointed out by Ali post fight is that you can use an IV there in any capacity. That's where I think the real issue came in.

 

[moosaev]

I haven’t watched that fight in a while, but I also feel like Islam improved since then

All the other Islam fights I’ve seen; he submitted or got a KO super quick

His wrestling is good enough that he’s obviously gonna take Ilia down. I’d Volk considered better on the ground? Or as a defensive wrestler? I’d imagine he’s a bit stronger

I don’t know why fans choose to ignore this, but the rehydration window was something like 14 hrs shorter in Perth, so islam was weight drained and compromised. It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. Islam weighed in LESS than Volk on fight night per the UFC. So to answer your question, imo Volk survived in the grappling partially because he fought a depleted Islam.

 

[Qays Stetkevich]

His first UFC fight against Youssef Zalal. This fight is effectively Ilia showcasing his wrestling and submission skills. Topuria went for something like 5 discrete submission attempts - its obvious the dude has a very sophisticated ground game.

A few times he was reversed and we saw some guard work and get-ups. He has the combination of top-class athletism to go with his skill level.

All UFC fighters below 185lbs are excellent athletes, however Ilia is legimiately gifted.




The size gap between Ilia and Islam is going to be enormous. I have no doubt Topuria will maintain his punching power and be a hitter at 155lbs, but I have a doubt his grappling physicality will be the same.

Yup. Ilia is very strong for his size, but I think a lot of his usual tricks might simply not work/not be as effective against someone 1) much bigger and 2) also an exceptional grappler like Islam.

 

[Sean Chowdhury]

I don’t know why fans choose to ignore this, but the rehydration window was something like 14 hrs shorter in Perth, so islam was weight drained and compromised. It’s not an excuse, it’s a fact. Islam weighed in LESS than Volk on fight night per the UFC. So to answer your question, imo Volk survived in the grappling partially because he fought a depleted Islam.

I'm not saying Islam wasn't affected by the rehydration, but we saw him unable to takedown volk in the 2nd fight even with good rehydration, he landed good knees but could not budge volk or get close to a takedown, I just think volk is hard to takedown or submit due to his build and skills.

 

[Bork Neslar]

Just watch the fight again.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Volk is just built like he aint getting man-handled by anyone near his weight and he possesses all the right skills (defensively) to stop top-level grapplers

Thats why he has to be beaten on the feet

 

[188912345]

Volk has the strength of a much bigger man.
I remember he said that Islam "isn't strong" in the first fight after their first clinches.