Prime volkanovski ended in 2023

[Ivancho]

For me, his best years were from 2018 to 2023 (6 years). I remember the first time I saw Alex was on the Whittaker vs Brunson card.he was fighting a Japanese guy. I thought he was an excellent fighter, but that he lacked knockout power. It wasn’t until his fight with Chad Mendes that I thought, ‘This guy is going to be a champion.’


What amazed me the most about Volkanovski, aside from his speed and movement, was that on top of having endless cardio, he was also incredibly strong physically. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone overpower him in that aspect. I knew the fight against Islam was going to be tough, just because this short guy was an absolute beast.


I think taking that last fight against Islam, moving up a weight class on short notice and without a full camp, was a terrible decision,it hurt his career a bit. Then against Ilia, he was looking great and controlling the first round, until he got caught by Topuria's shot.
Against Lopes, I knew that if Volk was even half as good as he used to be, he still had a shot at becoming champion again. In the fight with Lopes, it was clear that his cardio is still top-notch, and his movement, speed, and reflexes are still intact.


But physically, I think and I’m pretty sure...he’s not as strong as he used to be, because he struggled a bit to keep Lopes pinned against the fence.
I think Volk should take one or two more fights and then retire, so he doesn’t damage his legacy

 

[Luthien]

Sherdoggers on Volk are like Homer and the Pig

 

[svmr_db]

He should go beat Evloev & then retire to become the Prime Minister of Australia.

 

[Dionysian]

His peak was 2022. The guy that absolutely dominated Max and looked like a pro fighting an ammy vs Zombie. I'd put that guy against any FW ever. There was no clear path to victory against that guy because he had no weakness.

 

[Blastbeat]

its pretty appropriate that your avatar is of Big George Foreman, TS
Volk's prime may be past, but just like Big George, the old dog still has new tricks

 

[Skarsgard]

Maybe. I will say that the best Volk I remember watching was against Yair. Felt a bit like Anderson's performance against Okami. Sort of a one last glimpse of what he was.

 

[Shaolin Alan]

Points fighter, Decision king, Paper "Champion"

 

[Judge Lance Ito]

I think he knows his chin is gone and he is fighting much more conservative right now.

I think in his next fight he'll probably be Koed. Lopes nearly did it twice.

 

[KoChang]

He loses his next fight.

 

[piropiro]

Prime Volk was up to the Islam rematch ... in the first fight it was razor thin and arguably he perhaps beat him, finishing on top, controlling him and looking like the tide had fully turned his way.

The last minute rematch was a huge career error, likely due to overconfidence with how close the first fight had been, but Islam was ready with a full camp whilst Volk had a beer gut and was vacationing two weeks before.

It ended his prime both in terms of invincibility aura and chin. The Topuria fight was just a consequence of that, he went in with cracked confidence and chin, against a young KO machine who saw him unconscious just a few months before and now knew he could be stopped.

I would venture to say that if Volk had won the first Islam fight, or hadn't done the insane short notice rematch, the Topuria fight might have gone quite differently.

Volk ended his own prime with a very very silly decision.

 

[Tweak896]

Crazy part is Volk hasn't fought anyone besides Lopes, Yair, or Ortega out of the whole UFC top 15. For a guy who's been champ so long it's bizarre there are so many guys he's never fought.

 

[TriangleMonkey]

Good chance to beat Evloev imo as it will be mostly defensive grappling which he does well


He should consider walking away sometime soon though while on top, not too many have been able to do it

 

[Prex32]

I think he knows his chin is gone and he is fighting much more conservative right now.

I think in his next fight he'll probably be Koed. Lopes nearly did it twice.

nah, he traded with lopes the entire time, no wrestling whatsoever

 

[Ladron4sherdog]

Islam damaged him in a big way. Beating him in his backyard with a short Australian turnaround wasn't necessarily it. The massacre that followed when Islam knocked him out cold without absorbing a single significant strike was just cold.

Don't think Volk ever got over that

 

[svmr_db]

He loses his next fight.

Not if it's Evloev, he's not dangerous Volk can beat him.

 

[TheBulge]

Should have never went up to fight that neckbeard a second time.

still though, Topuria would have ko'd him irregardless.

 

[Clark Rogers]

Crazy part is Volk hasn't fought anyone besides Lopes, Yair, or Ortega out of the whole UFC top 15. For a guy who's been champ so long it's bizarre there are so many guys he's never fought.

And Max.

What's crazier is that you're ignoring multiple other previous top 15 opponents because they aren't in there right now, but were when they fought.

You basically said you think it's weird that a top 3 guy is fighting top 5 opponents. Makes tons of sense lol.

 

[Tweak896]

And Max.

What's crazier is that you're ignoring multiple other previous to 15 opponents because they aren't in there right now, but were when they fought.

You basically said you think it's weird that a top 3 guy is fighting top 5 opponents. Makes tons of sense lol.

Oh I though Max moved to LW, my bad. I haven't stayed in the loop. Even UFC ranking site has Topuria as champ still. But assuming Max did move up and the day before he just fought Lopes, the only guys in the top 15 Volk fought were Yair and Ortega, which I still find pretty crazy.

 

[DoctorStoppage]

I thought he looked good, all things considered, and much better than I expected him to. I think the best move for him would be to defend against Evloev since it’s a good stylistic matchup for him and then retire before guys like Jean Silva get to a title shot.

 

[Gamboal]

Likeable guy but he lost that fight to Lopes he got a massive gift.

He was literally running away in the last round he didn't want to engage Lopes. He also got dropped and put in survival mode in round 3 (or was it 4?).