News Oliveira: I'll knock out Topuria

[shorinryu86]

He won't.

 

[JKS]

This fight will look a lot like the Porier fight.

I really hope so!

 

[188912345]

Tito had a violent and brutal KO so he clearly has KO power too.

Again I never said he doesn't have power. KOing a low level unranked guy with a 3-5-1 UFC record isn't the same as fighting the Elite LWs. If he KO's Charles it will be impressive. I just don't think it is a simple "Given" he can/will do it. Larger guys can take a shot better (when they aren't cutting tons of weight) and pose a bigger threat coming back. Charles can just as easily "Rock" Topuria and snatch a quick sub. Ilia has to be a little more careful.

He cracked the legendary chin of Max Holloway. Surely that means something, even if it was at 145.
Charles chin at 155 is much, much worse than Holloways chin, be it at 145 or 155.

We also have reputable fighters like Gilbert Burns talking about Ilia knocking out three of his teammates cold, with the big gloves, when he was sparring at Kill Cliff during his camp for Josh Emmett.
It would be an insanely weird thing for Burns to lie about since it reflects better on Ilia than his own teammates.

The gif of Tito KOing a senior citizen was a waste of bandwidth.

 

[Jinx_AA]

I love Charles and he's among my favorite fighters of all time. But this is not the smartest strategy when he's got a very clear advantage in the grappling. It's playing with fire and if I had to bet on it, I would say Topuira will KO Charles if they're in a fire fight.

I hope Charles just uses his striking to set up the clinch and from there work submissions and TDs against the cage. Once on the ground, it's in Charles world.

Except he doesn’t have some huge advantage on the ground … ilia started as a grappler - he’s a beast on the mat -he’s just fallen in love with his hands.

Someone is going to have to beat with him with strikes - I highly doubt anyone’s subbing him …

 

[JKS]

Except he doesn’t have some huge advantage on the ground … ilia started as a grappler - he’s a beast on the mat -he’s just fallen in love with his hands.

Someone is going to have to beat with him with strikes - I highly doubt anyone’s subbing him …

Yes, he does, he's got a very big advantage on the ground. Ilia may have started as a grappler a got a few submission wins early in his career., but that is pretty much irrelevant now. But at the top level, he hasn't done much in grappling. Olivera is light years ahead. If Olivera establishes top position he's gonna do some real damage, look how he handled an elite grappler like Arman from top position in round 1.

The other concern for Ilia, it's not just defending submissions on the ground. Olivera is a master at sinking subs from standing positions. RNC's, dropping down for a guilotine, standing guilotine. Considering the height difference, Olivera is a real threat there.

 

[chinarice]

Tito had a violent and brutal KO so he clearly has KO power too.

Again I never said he doesn't have power. KOing a low level unranked guy with a 3-5-1 UFC record isn't the same as fighting the Elite LWs. If he KO's Charles it will be impressive. I just don't think it is a simple "Given" he can/will do it. Larger guys can take a shot better (when they aren't cutting tons of weight) and pose a bigger threat coming back. Charles can just as easily "Rock" Topuria and snatch a quick sub. Ilia has to be a little more careful.

Ilia can end any LW's night with a well placed shot. If he can KO Volk and Max Holloway, you can bet your bottom dollar he can KO any of the top LWs if he lands some of his shots clean.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

He cracked the legendary chin of Max Holloway. Surely that means something, even if it was at 145.
Charles chin at 155 is much, much worse than Holloways chin, be it at 145 or 155.

We also have reputable fighters like Gilbert Burns talking about Ilia knocking out three of his teammates cold, with the big gloves, when he was sparring at Kill Cliff during his camp for Josh Emmett.
It would be an insanely weird thing for Burns to lie about since it reflects better on Ilia than his own teammates.

The gif of Tito KOing a senior citizen was a waste of bandwidth.

Never heard Gilbert speaking on Ilia. In what context did you hear this? Did you meet Burns on a plane and get to chatting MMA? Or was it during a promotional piece like Embedded or a podcast? It sure would be weird for a fighter hyping up an upcoming fight for the UFC to ..... exaggerate.

Not sure how you can say Charles chin is suspect at LW? one loss against Felder since moving to LW in his UFC career. That was his 2nd LW fight in his UFC run and 8 years and 15 fights ago.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

Ilia can end any LW's night with a well placed shot. If he can KO Volk and Max Holloway, you can bet your bottom dollar he can KO any of the top LWs if he lands some of his shots clean.

But that is the question. Can he? He faces a much greater threat against LWs. He can just wade in against FWs comparatively speaking. He has less fear of what is coming back at him.

 

[188912345]

Never heard Gilbert speaking on Ilia. In what context did you hear this? Did you meet Burns on a plane and get to chatting MMA? Or was it during a promotional piece like Embedded or a podcast? It sure would be weird for a fighter hyping up an upcoming fight for the UFC to ..... exaggerate.

Not sure how you can say Charles chin is suspect at LW? one loss against Felder since moving to LW in his UFC career. That was his 2nd LW fight in his UFC run and 8 years and 15 fights ago.

You can Google Gilbert Burns Ilia Topuria and you will find the clip.
I think it's from a podcast or interview.

Are you really implying Burns would lie and exaggerate about Ilias sparring performances (and power) vs his own teammates? Weird.

Charles chin is bad at LW because he gets hurt and/or knocked down in pretty much every fight, surely you have seen his fights?

Chandler 1, 2, Gaethje, Poirier, Islam, Charles got dropped in all those fights.

Holloways has a better chin than Oliveira = water is wet.

 

[dipstickjimmy]

You can Google Gilbert Burns Ilia Topuria and you will find the clip.
I think it's from a podcast or interview.

Are you really implying Burns would lie and exaggerate about Ilias sparring performances (and power) vs his own teammates? Weird.

Charles chin is bad at LW because he gets hurt and/or knocked down in pretty much every fight, surely you have seen his fights?

Chandler 1, 2, Gaethje, Poirier, Islam, Charles got dropped in all those fights.

Holloways has a better chin than Oliveira = water is wet.

You think guys telling gym stories don't exaggerate for the sake of telling a good story? Especially when promoting a fight? that's actually weird.

Getting hit and not getting KO'd = solid chin. Ever consider that he might have poor defense? Or not care about getting dropped since anyone who follows him to the ground is at risk of getting subbed? In which of the fights you mentioned did he get finished by strikes?

If you want to say Holloway's chin > Charles that's fine. I believe it.
That doesn't mean Charles has a bad chin. And I believe it was specifically stated re Charles as a LW. One TKO stoppage =/= bad chin.

 

[Chayanne]

Considering his height difference with Topuria, he can force a KO with his knees, yes

 

[HockeyBjj]

Olives need to focus on getting ahold of that neck and not getting clipped before he does so

 

[Aurelian]

I was comparing Conor and Topuria, not Charles. It is Topuria that is moving up from FW, like Conor did and was KOing guys at FW like Conor did, and Conor's KO power did not translate to LW....will Topuria's?

Yes Charles was once at FW a long long time ago and he has certainly grown into his frame. He was IMO a LW cutting too much to make FW.` Now he looks closer to a WW. Topuria hasn't fought anyone that is as hard to KO and Charles can take it and still find a finish.

He has fought at LW before. Ilia's last fight at LW

Gilbert Burns used to train with Topuria. He said Ilia can KO anyone 170 and below. You don't have to believe him but that's what the man said.

 

[Chagaev]

Olive should pull a Werdum and fake a KD.

 

[r-harper-1]

I love Charles and he's among my favorite fighters of all time. But this is not the smartest strategy when he's got a very clear advantage in the grappling. It's playing with fire and if I had to bet on it, I would say Topuira will KO Charles if they're in a fire fight.

I hope Charles just uses his striking to set up the clinch and from there work submissions and TDs against the cage. Once on the ground, it's in Charles world.

Charles has a clear advantage in grappling? I’m not so sure

 

[Aurelian]

Yes, he does, he's got a very big advantage on the ground. Ilia may have started as a grappler a got a few submission wins early in his career., but that is pretty much irrelevant now. But at the top level, he hasn't done much in grappling. Olivera is light years ahead. If Olivera establishes top position he's gonna do some real damage, look how he handled an elite grappler like Arman from top position in round 1.

The other concern for Ilia, it's not just defending submissions on the ground. Olivera is a master at sinking subs from standing positions. RNC's, dropping down for a guilotine, standing guilotine. Considering the height difference, Olivera is a real threat there.

Ilia has better wrestling than Charles. It's going to be a struggle to take Ilia down. Charles needs to use his diverse striking skillset against Ilia and maybe use the clinch to try to tire him out and make him work. I don't think the ground game is the key to victory in this one.

 

[JKS]

Charles has a clear advantage in grappling? I’m not so sure

Very clear and almost to the point where it won’t be competitive on the ground.

 

[188912345]

You think guys telling gym stories don't exaggerate for the sake of telling a good story? Especially when promoting a fight? that's actually weird.

Getting hit and not getting KO'd = solid chin. Ever consider that he might have poor defense? Or not care about getting dropped since anyone who follows him to the ground is at risk of getting subbed? In which of the fights you mentioned did he get finished by strikes?

If you want to say Holloway's chin > Charles that's fine. I believe it.
That doesn't mean Charles has a bad chin. And I believe it was specifically stated re Charles as a LW. One TKO stoppage =/= bad chin.

There's plenty of evidence that Topuria is more powerful than Conor.

The problem with getting hurt/rocked/dropped often and recovering off your back is when you're facing someone competent enough on the ground to not be deterred by the submission threat.
Ilia is definitely competent enough to follow him to the ground and finish him.


Charles has a bad chin but he has strong recovery. If you give him 3-4 seconds on the ground to recover, he will, but fighters like Ilia and Islam won't let him get away with that.

 

[fortheo]

Ilia has better wrestling than Charles. It's going to be a struggle to take Ilia down. Charles needs to use his diverse striking skillset against Ilia and maybe use the clinch to try to tire him out and make him work. I don't think the ground game is the key to victory in this one.

Charles has a very, very long history of taking down good guys in the ufc, many of them were from wrestling backgrounds too. He's also the bigger man here. I don't know how everybody can be so confident in ilia's grappling while facing one of the best grapplers in the division up from his own.

Charles is easily the most well rounded grappler illia has fought, while also the biggest.

 

[Aurelian]

Charles has a very, very long history of taking down good guys in the ufc, many of them were from wrestling backgrounds too. He's also the bigger man here. I don't know how everybody can be so confident in ilia's grappling while facing one of the best grapplers in the division up from his own.

Charles is easily the most well rounded grappler illia has fought, while also the biggest.

Size is definitely going to be a factor. However, if Charles is on bottom and can't get a sub he's not winning rounds.