Topuria still hasn't answered all questions.. Why is that being overlooked?

[BangBang]

There's a Manlet inside more sherbros than you think.



Moderators: I think we need a Manlet emoticon - can we add this?

 

[jooohnmatrix]

He’ll run from Max faster than he did from the front lines when Russia invaded.

 

[ElLunico]

I disagree. We've seen him get rocked bad and recover in a split second and get the KO against Jai Herbert.. That alone should tell you he doesn't wilt easy.

That Emmet fight showed he has good cardio to sustain for 5 rounds. Emmett is no joke and dealing with him for 5 rounds is great experience..

Also Ilia has shown the bright lights aren't too bright for him.. He shows up in the big fights.

 

[Rubios]

Uhm, I doubt is a better kicker than Max.
Max improved a lot his kicking game after Volk chopped his legs.

Ilia kicks HARDER, that's for sure, but if you see Top's fights you'll see he barely uses them.

 

[StonedLemur]

Before I go on my sloppy rant I just wanna say that I'm a fan of Ilia, he is an absolute MONSTER and obviously extremely dangerous for Max Holloway..

Now, as good as he is, we still haven't seen him in a gruesome 5 round fight. I know he went 5 rounds with Emmett but he was the one casually picking his shots, with a hurt Josh backing up. That definitely counts for something but we don't even have proof that he can keep the kind of pace that Max is accustomed to creating in a 5 rounder. We've seen Max eat big shots from powerful punchers, but we haven't seen Ilia go to deep waters and be the shark. These are real elements of this matchup that are kind of being overlooked IMO.

We all too often forget that the barrier to victory becomes greater and greater the higher up into the rankings you go, and that usually requires something new and adaptive from a champion if he's going to remain undefeated.

What happens if Max eats a bomb or two and we see a 3rd round. Will Topuria still have the power and be as dangerous? Will he be gassed? Can he eat Max's combos? We actually don't know.

Let's look at some things objectively in terms of advantages:

Durability? - Max
Chin? - Max
Cardio? - Max
Experience? - Max
Reach? - Max
Kicks? - Max

Hmm, but he's the underdog?
View attachment 1066956

Every Conor has his Nate Diaz moment.

Max boxes his ears off in the championship rounds.

Y'all better hespect that man!!

EDIT:
Something that completely slipped my mind is also that Max has seen this style before. And he's literally the best in the world at neutralizing it. Topuria plods forward, with his hands up, and looks for openings with his jab and traditional linear boxing entries. Everyone predicting him to win is predicting he does that while getting Max up against the cage, and landing a perfectly placed shot on Max and Max for the very first time in his career falling. There are a lot of layers to this cake y'all want to eat. It's doable but we've literally never seen it before.

 

[r-harper-1]

I would give Topuria the edge in kicks

 

[fortheo]

I would give Topuria the edge in kicks

Leg kicks only. Max has a much larger variety of kicks in his arsenal and has hurt people with them more often. He stumbled bermudez with a spinning back kick, broke gaethje's nose with one, crumpled pettis with body kicks, dropped volk with a head kick.....and that's just off the top of my head. It's a very underappreciated part of max's game. I don't think I've ever seen Ilia even throw any form of head or body kick. Hell, I can't even think of a memorable moment from him involving kicks other than him eating one to the face.

 

[r-harper-1]

Leg kicks only. Max has a much larger variety of kicks in his arsenal and has hurt people with them more often. He stumbled bermudez with s spinning back kick, broke gaethje's nose eith one, crumpled pettis with body kicks, dropped volk with a head kick.....abd that's just off the top of my head. It's a very underappreciated part of max's game. I don't think I've ever seen Ilia even throw any form of head or body kick. Hell, I can't even think of a memorable moment from him involving kicks other than him eating one to the face.

I thought Topuria landed big leg kicks against Volk and Emmet … I expect him to chop up max legs …. Max does have a good variety of kicks

 

[Poirierfan]

Before I go on my sloppy rant I just wanna say that I'm a fan of Ilia, he is an absolute MONSTER and obviously extremely dangerous for Max Holloway..

Now, as good as he is, we still haven't seen him in a gruesome 5 round fight. I know he went 5 rounds with Emmett but he was the one casually picking his shots, with a hurt Josh backing up. That definitely counts for something but we don't even have proof that he can keep the kind of pace that Max is accustomed to creating in a 5 rounder. We've seen Max eat big shots from powerful punchers, but we haven't seen Ilia go to deep waters and be the shark. These are real elements of this matchup that are kind of being overlooked IMO.

We all too often forget that the barrier to victory becomes greater and greater the higher up into the rankings you go, and that usually requires something new and adaptive from a champion if he's going to remain undefeated.

What happens if Max eats a bomb or two and we see a 3rd round. Will Topuria still have the power and be as dangerous? Will he be gassed? Can he eat Max's combos? We actually don't know.

Let's look at some things objectively in terms of advantages:

Durability? - Max
Chin? - Max
Cardio? - Max
Experience? - Max
Reach? - Max
Kicks? - Max

Hmm, but he's the underdog?
View attachment 1066956

Every Conor has his Nate Diaz moment.

Max boxes his ears off in the championship rounds.

Y'all better hespect that man!!

EDIT:
Something that completely slipped my mind is also that Max has seen this style before. And he's literally the best in the world at neutralizing it. Topuria plods forward, with his hands up, and looks for openings with his jab and traditional linear boxing entries. Everyone predicting him to win is predicting he does that while getting Max up against the cage, and landing a perfectly placed shot on Max and Max for the very first time in his career falling. There are a lot of layers to this cake y'all want to eat. It's doable but we've literally never seen it before.

I made a thread on Max before the Justin fight stating reasons why Max was a bad matchup for Justin. That's not the case here. You have a technically superior fighter in Topuria over Justin in every way. Maybe Max can win on cardio, but Topuria's boxing is technically light years ahead of Justin's.

Prediction: Topuria wins by a blood soaked battering in under 3 rds. Topuria's better technically, and way more powerful. I can see Max getting caught up against the cage just like Volk did.

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

I made a thread on Max before the Justin fight stating reasons why Max was a bad matchup for Justin. That's not the case here. You have a technically superior fighter in Topuria over Justin in every way. Maybe Max can win on cardio, but Topuria's boxing is technically light years ahead of Justin's.

Prediction: Topuria wins by a blood soaked battering in under 3 rds. Topuria's better technically, and way more powerful. I can see Max getting caught up against the cage just like Volk did.

You're wrong if you don't think Max has clear advantages. He's clearly a more versatile, well rounded striker with kicks, knees that Ilia hasn't incorporated into his game.

Also, we have ZERO clue as to if Ilia even has the gas tank to last a Max Holloway style of fight. You're essentially banking on a early KO, AGAINST A GUY WHO'S NEVER BEEN KO'D?!

What happens if he doesn't KO him in the first round or two?
We all know what happens.

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

I disagree. We've seen him get rocked bad and recover in a split second and get the KO against Jai Herbert.. That alone should tell you he doesn't wilt easy.

That Emmet fight showed he has good cardio to sustain for 5 rounds. Emmett is no joke and dealing with him for 5 rounds is great experience..

Also Ilia has shown the bright lights aren't too bright for him.. He shows up in the big fights.

He didn't recover in a split second. He got beat up for that entire first round. Then won via KO later in the fight.

It's almost like Max has to shoot someone with a gun for y'all to consider him dangerous lmao.

 

[blaseblase]

Maxs defensive strategy of blocking punches with his face for the last 10 years is going to catch up with him eventually, it always does. He just got dropped for the first time last fight. He already needs subtitles when you watch his interviews. I think he gets flattened next week

His opponent was Gaethje though. It's insane how NOT getting KO'd by him is somehow a negative. Topuria couldn't even finish Emmett, I doubt he is the guy to break Max's chin.

 

[Poirierfan]

You're wrong if you don't think Max has clear advantages. He's clearly a more versatile, well rounded striker with kicks, knees that Ilia hasn't incorporated into his game.

Also, we have ZERO clue as to if Ilia even has the gas tank to last a Max Holloway style of fight. You're essentially banking on a early KO, AGAINST A GUY WHO'S NEVER BEEN KO'D?!

What happens if he doesn't KO him in the first round or two?
We all know what happens.

I included the cardio factor. Topuria is infact a more technically sound boxer than Max or Justin. Kicks? Max has weak kicks at best. This will all come down to their hands, and Topuria has both the technical advantage and the power advantage. Infact, unlike Justin Topuria actually turns over his punches. I think Justin's power in his hands is overrated. Max doesn't want to get hit by Topuria like he did Justin, it'll be over. There's a first for everything, and this will be Max's first KO loss imo.

 

[blaseblase]

Why is Max's chin the one in question here? He's not the one who nearly got finished by Jai Herbert.

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

I included the cardio factor. Topuria is infact a more technically sound boxer than Max or Justin. Kicks? Max has weak kicks at best. This will all come down to their hands, and Topuria has both the technical advantage and the power advantage. Infact, unlike Justin Topuria actually turns over his punches. I think Justin's power in his hands is overrated. Max doesn't want to get hit by Topuria like he did Justin, it'll be over. There's a first for everything, and this will be Max's first KO loss imo.

I wasn't referring to power regarding the kicks, I was simply stating that Max is an over all better kicker. Not everything is about power. Max has a wider variety of kicks and knees which can make it even trickier for Ilia to close the distance.

And you still haven't answered my question. What if Topuria doesn't get a KO in the first couple rounds? Who do you favor then.
This fight just screams Conor Nate 1 vibes to me man.

 

[ElLunico]

He didn't recover in a split second. He got beat up for that entire first round. Then won via KO later in the fight.

It's almost like Max has to shoot someone with a gun for y'all to consider him dangerous lmao.

He literally recovered in a split second and got a td seconds later lol. That kick would have KOed a lot of fighters. Even when they got back up, he got hit but was never visibly hurt. Then proceeds to get the KO in the next round.

Max is a beast but I've seen him get beat multiple times. I've seen him take a lot of punishment in fights. I dont know why you're upset that people think the undefeated dude that's been tearing thru everyone is the favorite over a guy that has multiple losses

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

He literally recovered in a split second and got a td seconds later lol. That kick would have KOed a lot of fighters. Even when they got back up, he got hit but was never visibly hurt. Then proceeds to get the KO in the next round.

Max is a beast but I've seen him get beat multiple times. I've seen him take a lot of punishment in fights. I dont know why you're upset that people think the undefeated dude that's been tearing thru everyone is the favorite over a guy that has multiple losses

Dude wtf are you talking about.
He got dripped with a head kick and proceeded to lose that first round.
He got the KO in the middle of the 2nd round.

 

[Trabaho]

Max looks beat up and old.

 

[Domitian]

His opponent was Gaethje though. It's insane how NOT getting KO'd by him is somehow a negative. Topuria couldn't even finish Emmett, I doubt he is the guy to break Max's chin.

Emmett has heavy power so Ilia didn't take risks to try to finish him. He just beat him up to a 50-42 scorecard which is probably more embarassing than actually getting finished.