Media Volk Interview : "I Wanna See How Easily He Breaks When Things Don't Go To Plan”

[HHJ]

It isn't a he...

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

Arman is pretty short. He's a thick boy for sure, though.

I've seen conflicting statements of Armans height listed from 5'7 to 5'9

They look fairly equal to me in the fight

 

[HHJ]

Yeah, I always thought it was their banhammer account, but still you'd figure to see him in action in the mids of SD battlefields, after a big event, Mjonir smashing fools by the dozens.

I will dethrone him/her/it and hold aloft the mighty Mjolnir myself and dispense justice and fairness to the forum

 

[Iroh]

Yeah, both around that 5'9/5'10 mark. Both have Similar builds. Unsure who cuts more though.

What? Islam seems considerably taller. I'd say he is at least 5'11"

Arman does look like a tank though, so wouldn't be surprised if he had a big cut

 

[YungSithLxrd]

Bro, Volk won all of those fights pretty dominantly. It's like me saying Volk will crush Islam with a jab because ramos staggered him with a jab.

Not at all actually lol. Islam likely won't need more than 1 td. And volks wrestling training will not catch Islam's who's basically MMA wrestled from birth. Thats before we even get into the size advantage. And also volk made a comment about Islam reaching for a leg and another about stuffing the td. Islam doesnt need to shoot to get his tds. I like Volk but he's losing this for sure.

 

[JudoThrowFiasco]

What? Islam seems considerably taller. I'd say he is at least 5'11"

Arman does look like a tank though, so wouldn't be surprised if he had a big cut

I'm going by their fight to be honest. The size difference seems minor to me

 

[stacrafty]

Volk is saying his experience with bigger wrestlers "all his life" will have him prepared for Islam

Yet a lanky relatively weak BJJ player who isn't known for his TD game did this to him....

Everyone from opponents (Arman, Dober, Bobby etc) to sparring partners/teammates (Rockhold, Thomson etc) constantly say how Islam has freakish strength and technique and how his clinch and top pressure is way above his weight and feels like a MW when he gets a hold of you.

If/when Islam ties up with Volk he is gonna be shocked by how badly he gets ragdolled.

lmao, thats what you use at references?
4 rounds in vs Ortega when its been a pretty crazy high paced fight (right after round 3, one of the best rounds ever, both almost finished - a pretty exhausting round)
And then round 3 where he does a somewhat sloppy leg kick and (credit to ortega) he catches it and trips all in a pretty smooth motion

thats like posting a gif of Islam being Ko'd and drawing weird conclusions.

Odds are only 3.5:1 or whatever

 

[Iroh]

I will dethrone him/her/it and hold aloft the mighty Mjolnir myself and dispense justice and fairness to the forum

Shoop Hardy's face over this and make it your av, IMO.

 

[Iroh]

I'm going by their fight to be honest. The size difference seems minor to me

Always looked like a lot to me, but I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

 

[HHJ]

Shoop hardy's face over this and make it your av, IMO.

hahah it cant just be hardy,it HAS to be Tom hardy as Ronnie Kray.

 

[Istryker]

Never realized Arman was so short.



liking volks chances more and more

 

[surgeyou1]

Volk seems genuinely confident but idk. This is likely one of those "there are weight classes for a reason" fights.

 

[AfroBanana]

Volk “panic shoot”

 

[Safton]

Volkanovski has been taken down quite a few times in his UFC career, as has been covered, always by lesser and smaller wrestlers than Islam. To his credit, his scrambles and get-ups seem to be top-notch and he won all of those fights. But I don't know if you can rely on being short, stocky, scrappy and having good scrambles against a guy like Islam who's so good at chain-wrestling, throwing out a variety of takedowns in rapid succession, and consolidating position by locking down his opponent to set up shop on top once he drags them down. I agree that Volkanovski -- in a pure skill-for-skill, pound-for-pound basis -- is one of Islam's most tremendous tests to date, but fundamentally Makhachev isn't really being deprived of any of his weapons and doesn't have to change his gameplan overly much. Conversely, Makhachev is the biggest, most elite grappler Volk has ever faced by a large margin and is very defensively sound on the feet. He will likely be able to negate Alex's own offensive wrestling and (to a slightly lesser extent) clinch games -- two things Volk relies on pretty heavily in many of his outings -- or at the very least make them incredibly risky to employ.

What also worries me is that Alex isn't making any concerted effort at bulking up for this fight at all and has announced his intention to basically not cut weight and instead just retain as much lean muscle as his frame naturally carries as it is so he can come in a bit heavier than he normally would for a Featherweight showing. Alex is a fairly strong, muscular guy for the weight class but he's not the biggest 145er we've ever seen. Meanwhile he'll be facing a Lightweight who is by any metric tremendously strong and big even by the standards of that weight class. It's sketchy. I know, Alex feels he fights better at his current frame and it serves to preserve his cardio, pace, footwork, and speed but... I don't think it will do him any favors once Islam gets his hands on him.

That being said, I still can't bring myself to say that Alex has no chance in this fight. I do think he is a live albeit remote underdog. His fight IQ, cardio, composure, footwork, game-planning, and ability to make mid-fight adjustments under fire are not to be underestimated. I genuinely believe that Volk is a generational talent and a tough out for anyone two weight classes in any direction. I could see a reality -- somewhere out there -- where Alex frustrates Islam with his footwork, complicates his takedown entries while peppering him with boxing combinations and low kicks, continuously scrambles out of bad positions, survives some bad spots on the ground, maybe lands some solid shots that manage to hurt Makhachev, and ultimately ekes out a closely-contested win by Decision or perhaps even late TKO. I think it's within the realm of possibility for a fighter as skilled as Alex has proven to be... but I just don't see it as the most likely scenario, all things considered.

I think it's far more likely that Islam makes his reads early, Alex throws out some feelers, maybe lands a couple of shots and escapes the first few takedown attempts, but eventually Islam finds his hips and really drags him down and keeps him there to ride out the clock even as Alex tries to scramble like a madman to no avail -- all as Makhachev rides the bucking bronco. Rinse and repeat until the clock runs out to an Islam UD, 49-46. One round in there for Volk where his scrambles are on-point and he lands some clean shots, I guess.

I think it's feasible for Islam to finish Alex, but it would be a late TKO or Submission I imagine. Rather than Islam catching Alex on the feet or snatching up something crazy in transition, I think it would just be Makhachev slowly consolidating position and grinding Volkanovski into dust during the championship rounds with GnP or an arm-triangle/RNC/armlock after trapping him in a bad position following a desperate failed scramble where he only got pulled deeper in like quicksand. All in all I'd probably take Islam by Decision, though.

A disclaimer, however. If things had worked out differently due to cosmic shenanigans and we had been able to see Volkanovski spend the last year or two defending his belt against the likes of Movsar Evloev and Bryce Mitchell in a convincing fashion (i.e. repeatedly stuffing the vast majority of their takedowns, scrambling out of bad positions, punishing them on the feet, and winning a dominant Decision or even finishing them)... and if Volk was willing to properly spend time packing as much extra lean muscle as possible onto his frame in order to properly move up to 155 pounds for this challenge alongside a lengthy, dedicated defensive grappling camp... I would view this as close to a 50/50 fight. Hell, I might even pick him in that case as it would be far easier for me to visualize a proven route to victory for Alex at which point it would be essentially a matter of "scaling it up" against a larger and slightly more talented/well-rounded fighter in Islam (when compared to the aforementioned Evloev/Mitchell).

As it stands, however, the way they match up stylistically I feel like Volk will be inherently deprived of too many of his own weapons in this bout and picking him would require me to take a lot of things on faith while hedging my bets entirely on his observed intangibles (elite intangibles though they may be) and his performances against vastly inferior and smaller grapplers. I am not comfortable doing that, personally.

 

[The Hash Slinging Slasher]

They all now have the khamzat syndrome and think they are bigger and stronger than all their opponents forgetting khamzat is not dagestani or a Manlet like them

I can’t think of anyone at ‘55 who I would think has the raw strength of Khabib or Islam, other than yolked out Tibau.

 

[Conan the K-9]

If Volk beats Islam, not the other way.
4 defenses at FW.
Plus let's say 2 defenses at LW.
Being a small guy for LW, in an era where size, frame and reach are huge in MMA.
That would be fucking impressive, in my book.
GOAT for sure!

Islam needs many defenses to be considered GOAT.

I’m still a little unsure what to think about this fight. It could be just wet blanketing until decision or Volk point fighting a shitty decision.
But what happens if Volk can pull this of?
Islam has still so much to prove, just because his weak resume. We would be shitting on him, that he did not beat the LW champ (technically), won the belt, when his opponent had a bad night, and then lost it to a smaller guy. Does not look good. If he wins, then he was just able to win because he overpowered his opponent. There is nothing to gain here for Islam.

But if Volk wins he will be for sure in the GOAT discussions, and has absolutely earned that.

At this time, I have no idea yet who will win this fight, and also it could be a banger or a boring point fight/wet blanket fight. Both fighters have the skills against each others to win this fight.

 

[Sasha]

Volk's skill is top tier. He's he's got brass balls for taking on this challenge. He's going to get bullied in there, however. I would love to be wrong and witness a huge upset, but as I've said time and time again, I think it's a bridge too far Alexander. In MMA crazy shit happens all the time, so while Volk winning is possible, it's highly unlikely.

Thanks for the cliffs, TS. Great job @fortheo

If Volk wins that one, shit will become kinda scary, like is that man even human to begin with ? I believe that despite his size he'd still be comfortable at 155. With his sports background, he has such an unique profile, if somebody can pull an upset, it's probably someone like this guy.

Or maybe I'm just thinking that because I'd fucking love to see Volk beating Islam.

 

[HHJ]

I’m still a little unsure what to think about this fight. It could be just wet blanketing until decision or Volk point fighting a shitty decision.
But what happens if Volk can pull this of?
Islam has still so much to prove, just because his weak resume. We would be shitting on him, that he did not beat the LW champ (technically), won the belt, when his opponent had a bad night, and then lost it to a smaller guy. Does not look good. If he wins, then he was just able to win because he overpowered his opponent. There is nothing to gain here for Islam.

But if Volk wins he will be for sure in the GOAT discussions, and has absolutely earned that.

At this time, I have no idea yet who will win this fight, and also it could be a banger or a boring point fight/wet blanket fight. Both fighters have the skills against each others to win this fight.

If Volk wins a decision it wont be shitty. Any win over the champ at a higher weight class is tremendous

 

[Conan the K-9]

If Volk wins a decision it wont be shitty. Any win over the champ at a higher weight class is tremendous

Agree, with you. But I meant how the opposite fanbase will handle that win and try to down talk it.

 

[HHJ]

Agree, with you. But I meant how the opposite fanbase will handle that win and try to down talk it.

Fuck em!