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Ilia looked very beatable today

Lol he has zero threats at FW. And the only fighter I'm not very confident he beats at LW is Islam but I'd give him a good shot against Islam. More than any LW currently

He took a few shots lol. Ok? What makes him a nightmare is he's a good wrestler, good Jiu Jitsu and elite striking.

He has more submission wins than KO wins.
 
i must be the only person that’s not excited for Lopes vs Topuria. I just can’t see Lopes having any success against Topuria after his fight vs Dan Ige. Topuria is better than Ige literally everywhere and he harder too. Lopes is gonna get wrecked in the first round.

I think Allen and Evloev present a much tougher stylistic match up for Ilia.

Once Topuria gets thru 2 of those 3, he should move up and challenge Islam.
 
Noraaq said:
i must be the only person that’s not excited for Lopes vs Topuria. I just can’t see Lopes having any success against Topuria after his fight vs Dan Ige. Topuria is better than Ige literally everywhere and he harder too. Lopes is gonna get wrecked in the first round.

I think Allen and Evloev present a much tougher stylistic match up for Ilia.

Once Topuria gets thru 2 of those 3, he should move up and challenge Islam.
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Lopes at least has the finishing ability to keep things interesting early on, don't really see how Allen or Movsar win 15 minutes against Ilia tbh.

Of the three I think Movsar is the one who has the toughest path to victory because he presents no threat on the feet, and his wrestling isn't so imposing that Topuria wouldn't be able to pop back up if taken down (which at this point is a big if due to Ilia's own proficiency there).
 
Oh because he didn't look fiction level perfect against one of the division goats? Jesus Christ wtf do you want, a psychic attack KO?
 
Just stop ts. Give the guy his flowers. I’m a max fan and that sucked, but I can acknowledge topuria is the best fw right now. No question. Yes max was piecing him up at times and imo won the first two rounds as he out struck ilia. But ilia hand speed and power could carry up a weight class. He just needs that slight opening. And that’s all it takes. It was a close fight until the knockdown. And max is clearly elite still. He just left and opening and ilia is ilia and found his way in and with that power and speed. Nobody at fw is beating him anytime soon. Maybe in a few years after some miles on him and some younger guys coming up with the speed power and athleticism to go with the skills will take him out. But not now and not soon.
 
Btw I like lopes and respect evloev for what he does well, but come on neither of those guys are beating ilia. And after them who is left? Yair? Arnold Allen? Not going to beat ilia and probably both those guys finished within 2 rounds.
 
Dionysian said:
I thought quite the opposite. I thought Max looked fantastic which made Ilia look even more fantastic. He's a problem at FW.
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I agree, Max was doing his thing for the entire fight and looked like he was on route to a decision win possibly, but Illia found the timing and changed the outcome FAST! Kid looked great, imo he will be holding the throne for quite some time.
 
well the thing is with Topuria...he often looks beatable but you can litereally feel the danger through the tv screen. you know that he is looking for the finish and it gets closer and closer....even if he is taking damage or making some mistakes.
he is very threatening on the feet. so even if he is losing on points or getting tagged, you can stil sense that he is dangerous and still puts pressure to force a finish.

he also doesnt do it with wreckless abandon. he is nothing like lets say ...a guy like Cody Garbrand. Garband was also dropping guys left and right and could be technikal when he wanted, but often resorted to brawling. Topuria puts pressure but doesnt take unnecessary risks. I had the exact same feeling as during he Volk fight...Even though Volk and Max scored and did some damage, I constantly had the feeling that Topuria would land something significant

He is a killer but still very different from a guy like Poatan or other hard hitters. He can put pressure on the opponent because he is also a potent grappler and. I really think Topuria's kryptonite is a guy that can put him on his back and make him work alot
 
Thesnake101 said:
Lopes at least has the finishing ability to keep things interesting early on, don't really see how Allen or Movsar win 15 minutes against Ilia tbh.

Of the three I think Movsar is the one who has the toughest path to victory because he presents no threat on the feet, and his wrestling isn't so imposing that Topuria wouldn't be able to pop back up if taken down (which at this point is a big if due to Ilia's own proficiency there).
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Movsar is criminally underrated at this point. Is he a finisher? No. But the guy knows how to mix up his game and win fights. He’s similar to belal in that sense.

He also beat Lopes, and more importantly he dominated Dan Ige, who’s a similar fighter to Topuria, just a worse version.
 
Noraaq said:
Movsar is criminally underrated at this point. Is he a finisher? No. But the guy knows how to mix up his game and win fights. He’s similar to belal in that sense.

He also beat Lopes, and more importantly he dominated Dan Ige, who’s a similar fighter to Topuria, just a worse version.
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You have to watch Movsar's fights though, the Ige fight while a great performance is a very rare one for him, he's usually having very competitive bouts with all of his opponents. I mean, he took on a short-notice Lopes and looked extremely vulnerable, same thing when he fought Dawodu, Lentz, Allen, etc.

He knows how to win but he's not dominant, and against someone as versatile and dangerous as Ilia, who already has 5 round experience to boot, I just don't see how he pulls it off.
 
LincolnHawk1 said:
Just stop ts. Give the guy his flowers. I’m a max fan and that sucked, but I can acknowledge topuria is the best fw right now. No question. Yes max was piecing him up at times and imo won the first two rounds as he out struck ilia. But ilia hand speed and power could carry up a weight class. He just needs that slight opening. And that’s all it takes. It was a close fight until the knockdown. And max is clearly elite still. He just left and opening and ilia is ilia and found his way in and with that power and speed. Nobody at fw is beating him anytime soon. Maybe in a few years after some miles on him and some younger guys coming up with the speed power and athleticism to go with the skills will take him out. But not now and not soon.
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You can respect someones performance while being aware of where other fighters could capitalise. Ilia couldn't hold Max down for any extended period of time while they were dry in the first round, he was very hittable as the fight went on. Yes he has the equaliser and was able to close the show this time.
 
flowoftruth said:
You can respect someones performance while being aware of where other fighters could capitalise. Ilia couldn't hold Max down for any extended period of time while they were dry in the first round, he was very hittable as the fight went on. Yes he has the equaliser and was able to close the show this time.
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Who at fw can capitalize on ilia right now? Sure Lopez has some power, but his striking defense is not very good so if ige was putting together combos that were hitting him, what do you think ilia will do? Max is a more technical striker than lopes and sane with Volk. How is lopez going to beat ilia? Maybe evolve could as I don’t know if we know how great ilia tdd is and how good he is at getting up. Because evolve only chance is grappling and I don’t think we know how good ilia defensive grappling is.
 
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