Let's be honest about Max/Volk

[fortheo]

I don't mind him getting the rematch against Volk, however he's gonna need another win or two considering how one-sided the last result was and on paper him being down 0-3.
The Allen was very solid and will most likely age well, but beating TKZ now isn't that huge of a deal considering the circumstances and doesn't exactly scream that Max deserves a fourth crack at Volk. Also Volk just a little over a year ago beat TKZ way more handily compared to Max.
If he beats someone like Evloev or Giga next and Volk is still around then sure, three wins with two being against solid prospects in a slim division. It's not the most intriguing fight, that being said Max would be pretty much undeniable at that point.

By the way why is everyone disregarding Volk's explanation with the USADA situation for the second bout? Multiple fighters have mentioned the same thing happening to them and USADA do it while fighters just got done weight cutting or sleeping before fight night, that shit is fucked.
Volk got screwed over by that on fight island and only talked about once the trilogy was settled, it seems like a pretty valid excuse for his performance.

I don't know why they are disregarding it. To me

I don't mind him getting the rematch against Volk, however he's gonna need another win or two considering how one-sided the last result was and on paper him being down 0-3.
The Allen was very solid and will most likely age well, but beating TKZ now isn't that huge of a deal considering the circumstances and doesn't exactly scream that Max deserves a fourth crack at Volk. Also Volk just a little over a year ago beat TKZ way more handily compared to Max.
If he beats someone like Evloev or Giga next and Volk is still around then sure, three wins with two being against solid prospects in a slim division. It's not the most intriguing fight, that being said Max would be pretty much undeniable at that point.

By the way why is everyone disregarding Volk's explanation with the USADA situation for the second bout? Multiple fighters have mentioned the same thing happening to them and USADA do it while fighters just got done weight cutting or sleeping before fight night, that shit is fucked.
Volk got screwed over by that on fight island and only talked about once the trilogy was settled, it seems like a pretty valid excuse for his performance.

I just don't think it is fair to volk. He best Max 3 times. Is he supposed to just keep fighting Max everytime max wins a couple fights until the end of his career?

Honestly, I'd like max to move up and fight the winner of gamrot vs. Fiziev. If volk loses, max can always drop back down.

 

[LetThemBleed]

No matter what happens in what I predict - everybody will say Volk fell off a cliff. He is going to sit around and pray Islam smokes Charles again. Which won't happen. Gaethje will sitting around clamouring for a title shot with his stupid BMF belt.

Watch what Topuria does to Volk who is no stranger to getting wobbled and dropped.

Yet he hasnt been stopped since prior to his UFC run incidentally whilst at 170 pounds. Odds you said the exact same thing about Max when he had some success early against Volk and look which side of the ledger he's ended up on. I think Islam beats Charles again albeit in a less dominant fashion and makes short work of Justin by exploiting what I imagine will still be the gaping hole in his game. Volk lost that fight in the 4th he can improve on his showing in the rematch.

 

[maximus__]

We accepted a bullshit narrative that Volk got woken up by USADA and had a crap night's sleep in the second fight therefore the robbery was acceptable in hindsight and somehow he was on a totally different level for the third fight because

A) max lost a step
B) Volk got a proper night's sleep
C) Volk is improving at such a rapid pace that 2 competitive prior fights mean notning, he's just on a different level now

I say all of those explanations are exaggerations. Max-Volk 4 is competitive today. Max looked like crap in the trilogy fight - bad night for him. Some of us thought he was going down the Ferguson route after that night but clearly it was uncharacteristic.

Max is still on Volks level but with a resume a million times better while being younger.

Thank you for your time.

Volk has won 13/15 rounds when they fought. He only lost 2 rounds because of two knockdowns with his knee barely touching the ground. We have seen that fight play out enough for a couple years.

 

[Fatback96]

The first fight was not competitive. Volk destroyed Max with nothing but leg kicks. Max looked like he’d never seen a leg kick before in his life.

 

[Ibm]

Volk is a horrible matchup for him although cant help but award Max another hematch if he starts winning fights.

 

[Mohawk Banditó]

Are we really back to trying to give max as many rematches as it takes until he finally wins one?

The answer is no, we are not. Max has more work to do. He has only won two fights since his last loss to volk. Many guys, after losing the belt, they need to win 1-2 in a row just to get the first rematch. Since max wants a fourth rematch, he's going to have to put up a win streak longer than a couple fights.

I frankly think they handcuffed him by giving him the most streaking contender as his first rebound fight. What can you do after that except some novelty fight against a retiring great name? I mean, he's not gonna turn around from this and fight Dan Ige or something.

Now he's #1 with recent wins over 2, 3, 4, 7, and 8. #5 is getting the shot, 6 is on a losing streak, 9 is on one fight win streak after losing to 7, and 10 has like one ranked win. And sure, his current streak is only 4 and 8, but what else can he do, rematch 2 or 3?

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

Based on the fact that their first 10 rounds were by consensus 5-5 with the only person being rocked and dropped being Volk and Max looking absolutely awful by the standard of any previous or subsequent performance in the trilogy.

It is only MMA fans that refuse to consider the possibility that athletes underperform on a given night.

Volk won 4 rounds of the first fight on most peoples score cards. He also won 3 in the second. So that's 7/10. Not sure where you are getting your 5/5 number from.

 

[RespectTheWarriors]

Volk has won 13/15 rounds when they fought. He only lost 2 rounds because of two knockdowns with his knee barely touching the ground. We have seen that fight play out enough for a couple years.

We have seen it play out 3 times

Volk won 4 rounds of the first fight on most peoples score cards. He also won 3 in the second. So that's 7/10. Not sure where you are getting your 5/5 number from.

Eyes.

Serious question though how close in your eyes were those 7/10 that Volk won in the first 2?

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

Max lost to Conor and Poirier when he was literally not even a fully grown man. He looked like a teenager. Nowhere near the same fighter. You're bringing an unthinking boxing mentality to losses on a record. Same with Bermudez which was a questionable decision. What Max did at FW is not at all dimmed by those losses.

As far as I am concerned Max has a win over Volk because I go by my own judgement (2 losses as well obviously). So he has losses as basically a child that are a credit to him that they are not amateur fights and be wasn't finished.

Basically the only thing Volk has on him are the head to head.

I trhink the point that Max lost three of his fights when he was very young was a good one, I'll give you that. I haven't watched the second Volk fight in a while but I remember Volk taking over the fight the last 2 rounds. I'll have to watch it again. I think it's the 3 losses against Volk that are the problem. I do think Max might've lost a half of a step, not a full step. I will say that Max losing to Volk 3 times, sticking around the division and beating up the contenders has made his legend grow. How many times have we seen champions lose their title and fall apart? They either go on losing streaks or change divisions and never regain their former championship status. Max is a legend and all-time great of the sport. I will also add that Max was scheduled to fight Khabib on short notice (he had a bad weight cut and couldn't fight). The idea that he would take the fight with Khabib on very short notice says a lot about who he is as a fighter. Think about their styles. I'll watch the second Max-Volk fight and get back to you about my opinion on the decision. I remember it being a close fight but agreeing with the decision.

Do you think you might have at least a slight bias towards Max?

 

[RespectTheWarriors]

I trhink the point that Max lost three of his fights when he was very young was a good one, I'll give you that. I haven't watched the second Volk fight in a while but I remember Volk taking over the fight the last 2 rounds. I'll have to watch it again. I think it's the 3 losses against Volk that are the problem. I do think Max might've lost a half of a step, not a full step. I will say that Max losing to Volk 3 times, sticking around the division and beating up the contenders has made his legend grow. How many times have we seen champions lose their title and fall apart? They either go on losing streaks or change divisions and never regain their former championship status. Max is a legend and all-time great of the sport. I will also add that Max was scheduled to fight Khabib on short notice (he had a bad weight cut and couldn't fight). The idea that he would take the fight with Khabib on very short notice says a lot about who he is as a fighter. Think about their styles. I'll watch the second Max-Volk fight and get back to you about my opinion on the decision. I remember it being a close fight but agreeing with the decision.

Do you think you might have at least a slight bias towards Max?

I have a huge bias towards to Max. He is the most diamond chin, high cardio, most improved UFC fighter I have ever seen

I watched him be an undercard bum at 145 barely beating the likes of Leonard Garcia to killing Aldo twice ... Making it hard to watch twice

 

[stacrafty]

We accepted a bullshit narrative that Volk got woken up by USADA and had a crap night's sleep in the second fight therefore the robbery was acceptable in hindsight and somehow he was on a totally different level for the third fight because

A) max lost a step
B) Volk got a proper night's sleep
C) Volk is improving at such a rapid pace that 2 competitive prior fights mean notning, he's just on a different level now

I say all of those explanations are exaggerations. Max-Volk 4 is competitive today. Max looked like crap in the trilogy fight - bad night for him. Some of us thought he was going down the Ferguson route after that night but clearly it was uncharacteristic.

Max is still on Volks level but with a resume a million times better while being younger.

Thank you for your time.

no problem my shertard friend

You failed to keep your argument objective, Max was proclaiming he was the best he's ever been prio to Volk 3, shouting for all to hear "I am the fire" - or whatever it was

Volk is just better, deal with it.

 

[Chael_Sonnen]

We have seen it play out 3 times


Eyes.

Serious question though how close in your eyes were those 7/10 that Volk won in the first 2?

First 4 in the first fight were not close. Pretty clear in my eyes. You could even score the fifth to Volk, but I wouldn't.

Next 3, 2 were decently clear and 1 was very close based on my memory.


So yeah, 7/10. Maybe 6/10 if you score it the other way, or maybe 8/10 if you score it the other other way.

 

[Royce's Gi]

Fuck no, Max should never fight Volkov EVER AGAIN

0-3, maybe in another lifetime.

Yeah, Aleksandr Volkov is a beast

 

[tatsuke]

Max is still on Volks level but with a resume a million times better while being younger

A million times better than the champion he lost to three times? Come on, Max is awesome but that's just fucking silly.

If you lose three times to someone, you are not "better" than them.

 

[BigDramaShow26]

I just have no interest in it at all. Jermain Taylor beat Bernard Hopkins twice. It didn't take anything away from Hopkins' greatness.

I just wish Max got that rematch because he deserves it. Then we can put this thing to rest. Volk is just better head to head. I'm not convinced he's better all time. At this point I'd love to see Max just go up in weight. I mean the Topuria fight is a dream, but that's Volk's fight.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Title changes hands and Max is back in it

 

[RonDante]

I don’t know how people give max the second fight, I had volk landing more and landing better in that 3rd round. Close but clear as they say

 

[Rank Squatter]

Volk > Islam > Dustin > Max

 

[LouDee16]

Max will get another shot at the title after Topuria flatlines Volk

lmao.. yeah right.. Volk is going to destroy Ilia

 

[SalvadorAllende]

Based on the fact that their first 10 rounds were by consensus 5-5

What consensus? Your imaginary one?

Fuck off bro. 0-3 and the last fight was a complete beatdown.