Ilia relies on his chin more than people realize

[wrb]

Paddy is his hardest fight because of his youth and the opportunity if he wins, Islam is so smart he has a favorable chance and Ilia is banking on hitting the button however I think Islam hits much harder than people realize

After re-watching the Josh, Herbert and MAx fight I realized that Ilia is a fucking dog who is tough as shit and relies on getting hit in order to get the reads (MAx fight) but also gets cocky and over aggressive when he cannot completely dictate the outcome like in the Herbert/Josh fight.

Josh had the answer and all he had to do is sacrifice his face but in the end he could not fucking stop using that stupid left (or right) hook that made made him "famous" but the guy had multiple chances on the inside to create crazy problems. This is a miss and Ilia was reaching, this happened like 3 or 4 times and Josh would just freeze, reset and throw a cartoon like hook from outside the cage and spin around from the momentum.

 

[wolffanghameha]

What do you want josh to do there? What's he supposed to throw?

He does get hit, but it's rare he's getting cracked hard. I don't think he got hit hard by Volk or Max? Did he? Volk busted up his nose though.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

He drops his lead hand and loads up on his power shot, yes he does rely on his chin but he's very young and we've only seen him dropped once by Jai, will be interesting to see how he reacts to getting cracked as a champion.

However, Josh was never going to win that fight, he's a slow power puncher basically tailor made for Ilia to fuck up.

 

[nostradumbass]

He also got dropped by a left high kick the fight before he got to the UFC, and the guy who dropped him only has 1 career finish with strikes. Wasn't as clean as the one Jay Herbert hit him with, but still dropped him.

 

[Substance Abuse]

What do you want josh to do there? What's he supposed to throw?

He does get hit, but it's rare he's getting cracked hard. I don't think he got hit hard by Volk or Max? Did he? Volk busted up his nose though.

Max hit him quite a bit through two. I think that spinning back kick to the stomach hurt him at the end of R2. Rather than go to his stool, he stood there and looked at Max after the round ended. Moot point, however, considering the outcome.

Paddy is his hardest fight because of his youth and the opportunity if he wins, Islam is so smart he has a favorable chance and Ilia is banking on hitting the button however I think Islam hits much harder than people realize

After re-watching the Josh, Herbert and MAx fight I realized that Ilia is a fucking dog who is tough as shit and relies on getting hit in order to get the reads (MAx fight) but also gets cocky and over aggressive when he cannot completely dictate the outcome like in the Herbert/Josh fight.

Josh had the answer and all he had to do is sacrifice his face but in the end he could not fucking stop using that stupid left (or right) hook that made made him "famous" but the guy had multiple chances on the inside to create crazy problems. This is a miss and Ilia was reaching, this happened like 3 or 4 times and Josh would just freeze, reset and throw a cartoon like hook from outside the cage and spin around from the momentum. View attachment 1102790

You may want to rewatch that fight again. Unfortunately for Josh, he actually did not 'have the answer'.

 

[flektarn]

He's gotten better since then. Really the Emmett fight showed that he didn't have much of an answer to leg kicks. Yet Josh didn't use them much...

 

[Flower2dPeople]

Most of the OG Chute Boxe falls in this relying on chin category.

 

[188912345]

Breaking news, aggressive knockout artist with a reach disadvantage against all his opponents sometimes gets hit in the face.

He does seem to do a decent job defensively, all things considered.

 

[Black Blood]

Ilia has above average defense overall with a good enough to chin to cover himself otherwise.

 

[Thy]

whatever works for someone i guess. Prolly builds confidence if u can facetank things.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

He does trade in the pocket and often times takes one to give one.

It's just that HIS one is usually all it takes to end the fight, and he also generally moves off the center line when trading so that when he does take a shot, it's not as direct as the one he's delivering.

 

[ElLunico]

He gets hit because he is always looking for the finish at every second of the fight. I dont think he disregards his defense tho. Even against Emmett he wasn't as agressive because he knew Emmett had the power to KO him. He knows who to take more chances with. He was more open to trading against Max or Bryce because he knew he had the advantage. The guy barely takes any punishment in his fights. When you're as agressive as him you're gonna take some hits.

I think hes one of the higher IQ fighters right now. You can tell by the way he trains and how he approaches his fights.

 

[wrb]

Breaking news, aggressive knockout artist with a reach disadvantage against all his opponents sometimes gets hit in the face.

He does seem to do a decent job defensively, all things considered.

I think he leaves himself open enough and if Josh can go 5 others will be able to as well in LW. They need to make the paddy fight next.. The Josh fight is signifigant as he survived all his punches for 25 minutes, he got his ass kicked but was "in it" until the end. No one has done that with Tom but they are still putting him as p4p 1. Fights like that should be more signifigant when ranking these guys I think but a couple more wins at LW makes what I "observed" meaningless.\ if he just keeps knocking them out.

 

[TheCryingElite]

I think he leaves himself open enough and if Josh can go 5 others will be able to as well in LW. They need to make the paddy fight next.. The Josh fight is signifigant as he survived all his punches for 25 minutes, he got his ass kicked but was "in it" until the end. No one has done that with Tom but they are still putting him as p4p 1. Fights like that should be more signifigant when ranking these guys I think but a couple more wins at LW makes what I "observed" meaningless.\ if he just keeps knocking them out.

I think the Emmett fight indicated that Illia can fight a patient, methodical fight, while being defensively responsible. But also was able to select his shots and make Emmett pay for mistakes. It showed that he’s not just some front-runner-finisher that gives into the pressure once the finish doesn’t materialize.

 

[TITS]

I think he leaves himself open enough and if Josh can go 5 others will be able to as well in LW. They need to make the paddy fight next.. The Josh fight is signifigant as he survived all his punches for 25 minutes, he got his ass kicked but was "in it" until the end. No one has done that with Tom but they are still putting him as p4p 1. Fights like that should be more signifigant when ranking these guys I think but a couple more wins at LW makes what I "observed" meaningless.\ if he just keeps knocking them out.

So your jimmies are rustled over that stupid meaningless P4P rankings update? That's basically what this boils down to.

 

[Mr.Maelstrom]

Can't go swimming without getting wet. He's shown a combination of solid chin/quick recovery when he does get hit clean, and he seems to be very committed to fighting to his strengths with strategy in mind.

He's not "just flowing" out there, he's consciously focused on the gameplan

With that said, his run atm is up there but I have to think that whether it's Arman or Paddy next, I feel like he will be put to some real tests going forward.
Bigger guys that are closer to his age, who will look to impose their size and grappling rather than get stuck backing up while trying to strike with him for long stretches.

 

[BroScienceTalkatWork]

The beauty of winning all your most recent fights quickly —- you can improve your weaknesses faster the the competition can spot them

 

[Chagaev]

His chin and reaction time after he gets hit are even more important than his raw power.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

And what a handsome, chiseled chin it is.

 

[digitalia**]

what a weird statement... all fighters should rely on their chins

there's 0% chance that they will never be hit on the chin at any point of their career