Ilia relies on his chin more than people realize

[HuskySamoan]

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.

He got dropped by a left leg high kick in the regionals too.

 

[moosaev]

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.

DJ picks islam to beat ilia for this exact reason, southpaw vs orthodox, the height and length difference, and the availability for kicks to the body and head.

 

[Tweak896]

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.

Yeah he has no choice but to take some hits, short reach and undersized. He can have spots where he's aggressive, but I'd say someone like Conor was even more aggressive. Topuria can set up shots when he takes his time as well. There's really no way Topuria can avoid everything better unless he changes his style to be more like Volk with counter punching and leg kicks (which he doesn't really have too much). It's easier said than done to just catch Topuria, especially now he has so much momentum and the undefeated aura on his side.

Paddy's going to have to use everything he's got to avoid the nuke, keep safe counters, kicks, mix in takedowns, don't take risks. I actually like this matchup and I think it's tougher for Topuria than someone like Gaethje/Dustin. Might be a tougher fight than Arman as well if Topuria's wrestling has improved over the years.

 

[BowserJr]

Interesting observation. Everyone focus on his offense. His defense could use improvement.

Not dropping his hands and checking kicks.

A great kicker could use leg and body kicks to further drop his hands and set up a head kick and land some straights

 

[SalvadorAllende]

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.

A Yair Rodriguez Fluke Elbow would have won him the fight there. Josh has bad fight IQ confirmed.


Also it is pretty crazy what TS realized... a MMA fighter who gets hit in the face while fighting elite competition.

 

[SalvadorAllende]

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.

Well.. Max hits everyone a gazillion times each fight. Dude is probably the best volume puncher we have seen.
And yes.. Illia is a very tough motherfucker. He also ate a flush elbow from Charles like 10 seconds into the fight.

 

[rjmbrd]

Max had the best performance mixing strikes with good footwork, he just lacked the firepower to make Ilia pay for his occasional lack of defense. Over a long enough period of time, Max gets knocked out just like the rest of them, because humans that size cannot take Ilia's power when he lands clean.

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.

This 100%. It takes a lot of skill and timing to land the spinning back kick but its such an important and dynamic tool. Hurting Ilia to the body without being directly in his punching range is something future opponents should be looking at. He absolutely did not like what Max did there.

 

[wrb]

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

I think it's dangerous with 4 oz gloves, considering he has been knocked out standing in the UFC. He's not the biggest guy in any of his divisions, like DDP, and he relies on his resilience to implement his game plan, knowing that being able to take a hit is an unknown factor. For example, Khabib was hit maybe twice in his career; he left very few options for opponents to win, except for Conor, which was wild. Merab, Sean S., Brady, and Garry don't attack the same way Ilia does.

Keep in mind, this is not boxing, but Ilia has definitely created a new style and is a truly tough competitor for calling out these guys, knowing he relies on taking fight-ending shots to close the distance. (its risky but badass and people obviously like it.)

So, you're right—there is a 0% chance of taking no hits, but defense is a massive part of many top-five fighters' games and he has a different mentality than many in the Dagi camp.

 

[wrb]

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

Not at all, I like the guy more now as I think he is going to make LW exciting again evenmore so if people start figuring him out. The 3 champ bullshit is the gimmick that makes me "rustled" as he has some work to do at LW first. The P4P is frustrating only because it could be a cool idea with meaning with 1% more effort towards being consistent and using the information available.

 

[TITS]

Not at all, I like the guy more now as I think he is going to make LW exciting again evenmore so if people start figuring him out. The 3 champ bullshit is the gimmick that makes me "rustled" as he has some work to do at LW first. The P4P is frustrating only because it could be a cool idea with meaning with 1% more effort towards being consistent and using the information available.

The P4P rankings are fake, they are absolutely useless. Even Topuria himself says they don't matter. It's just some bullshit carried over from boxing that the media created.

 

[TheBulge]

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.

Do sherdoggers realize that headkicks are a lot more powerful than punches? Do they?

Because it really seems like they believe headkicks are weaker than punches and getting hurt by them is a sign of a weak chin.

 

[Pierce 34]

Ilia is too quick to get caught on his way in but he can be

 

[Rubios]

Breaking news: a short reached pocket boxer gets hit from time to time.

Ilia's defensive responsibility is extraordinary.