"Ilia beats any version of Volk every time"

[Rubios]

Ilia excels at his game, so it’s plausible.
But it’s also plausible that Volk at his peak (circa 5 years ago) could have edged it his way.

Beyond the fact that for Volk that was his 4TH fight in 12 months, less than 4 after a nasty KO… he was 35 years old. 35 years old at FW, and with that strength of schedule.

Sorry for making a post about this, but it strikes me that this way of thinking is so prevalent, and it once again highlights how different the behavior of MMA fans is compared to that of fans of any other sport, including combat sports like boxing.

When in the playoffs Luka outplayed Kevin Durant, nobody said “KD would never had anything for this guy.” And Doncic and Jokic are my favorite players, on a footnote. But still.

 

[Hymen Crusher]

Yes this is true volk is great. I think top is generational. I guess I disagree with you though I think volk loses 9 out of 10 to top.
Also basketball is hard to compare there are 10 guys out there and the best team almost always wins. There are almost zero playoff upsets

 

[LEWIS540]

Taking the Islam rematch on a weeks notice was dumb.

Taking the Ilia fight so soon after was even dumber.

 

[Simple Southerner]

Gotta agree

 

[RockyLockridge]

I think so. volk doesn't have the stopping power and I think that Illa is advantaged in the grappling as well.

Volk would have to point fight perfect for and entire 5 rounds to win.

 

[Kaiokenrye24]

Peak Volkanovski is great but to avoid Ilia’s punches when he throws combos while landing enough offense is a tough needle to thread. Ilia detonated Max’s chin

 

[ComfortablyNumb55]

I used to get in fights nearly every day and it never had an impact on my performance.

It actually made me a better fighter.

Note - These were hypothetical fights in my head in case someone tried me, but the fact remains, I got better with each hypothetical fight and stayed ready.

 

[Lou Duva]

But it’s true tho bro

 

[Koro_11]

Ilia excels at his game, so it’s plausible.
But it’s also plausible that Volk at his peak (circa 5 years ago) could have edged it his way.

Beyond the fact that for Volk that was his 4TH fight in 12 months, less than 4 after a nasty KO… he was 35 years old. 35 years old at FW, and with that strength of schedule.

Sorry for making a post about this, but it strikes me that this way of thinking is so prevalent, and it once again highlights how different the behavior of MMA fans is compared to that of fans of any other sport, including combat sports like boxing.

When in the playoffs Luka outplayed Kevin Durant, nobody said “KD would never had anything for this guy.” And Doncic and Jokic are my favorite players, on a footnote. But still.

The problem is that Volk just has nothing to really threaten Ilia with, he basically has to be perfect for 25 minutes while Ilia needs just one moment.

 

[TheBulge]

It just seems like Topuria has his number. The way he cut the octagon off to be able to get to Volk was eye opening, and I don't see Volk using a grappling heavy strategy let alone be successful enough with it to win.

And you know the old saying "He has to be perfect for 25 minutes. I have to be for 1 second."

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Volk loses to Ilia: "Volk was past prime".

Aldo loses to Max and Volk: "Aldo just not that good".

 

[HNIC215]

Volk loses to Ilia: "Volk was past prime".

Aldo loses to Max and Volk: "Aldo just not that good".

Everyone has their time to shine.

Volks time - like Aldo before him - is over.

Ilia better make good use of whatever time he has as well.

 

[Prazeres]

People love making statements like these because it makes the MMA simpler. If there is one thing we can learn about 90's and 2000's K1 is that when two elite guys fight each other 3 to 5 times, the same guy rarelly wins all the fights.

 

[Chagaev]

Who knows. If Top continues to hurt people like that at LW it will be hard to deny that he would've hurt a younger, healthier Volk too.

 

[Subline]

Volk's peak was late 2022 - early 2023, not 5 years ago. He may have been slightly declined against Ilia but not significantly, he looked sharp in that fight. It was his career-long tendencies that cost him the fight.

 

[Dr. Rose]

Ilia excels at his game, so it’s plausible.
But it’s also plausible that Volk at his peak (circa 5 years ago) could have edged it his way.

Beyond the fact that for Volk that was his 4TH fight in 12 months, less than 4 after a nasty KO… he was 35 years old. 35 years old at FW, and with that strength of schedule.

Sorry for making a post about this, but it strikes me that this way of thinking is so prevalent, and it once again highlights how different the behavior of MMA fans is compared to that of fans of any other sport, including combat sports like boxing.

When in the playoffs Luka outplayed Kevin Durant, nobody said “KD would never had anything for this guy.” And Doncic and Jokic are my favorite players, on a footnote. But still.

IDK, you hear people claim all the time that prime Lebron would be prime Jordan all the time, mostly by people who have never watched MJ play, but you hear it frequently.

 

[Rubios]

Volk's peak was late 2022 - early 2023, not 5 years ago. He may have been slightly declined against Ilia but not significantly, he looked sharp in that fight. It was his career-long tendencies that cost him the fight.

He looked PTSD-esque against Ilia to me.
The sequence just before the KO was Volk doing everything wrong. Amateurish wrong.
Look at his legs in the jab before retreating to the cage straight backwards, no throwing, not even on a shell.

 

[FrappeDuRocma]

Volk loses to Ilia: "Volk was past prime".

Aldo loses to Max and Volk: "Aldo just not that good".

Aldo was 31/32 years old...

 

[jeff7b9]

Nah.

Ilia is special. His hype is thru the roof right now so I can understand some pushback.

The best volk ever maybe lasts a little longer ...
But that nasty power shot is coming.


Volk was playing hide n seek in a house of mirrors with ilia

Exits were locked

And ilia has a Shotgun and unlimited rounds
It's just a matter of time.

 

[Black Blood]

I fully admit my bias, but Volk at his peak still gets laid out by Ilia.