Why I think Max Holloway will defeat Ilia Topuria

[scytheavatar]

Yeah I heavily favor Holloway, I expect him to dominate and be champ again, Illa is very unproven still, 40 year old Emmet by decision and Volk TKO round 2 are his best wins, Holloway has beat so many top fighters.

Everyone talking about Holloways chin lol its cute, I'll flip it.. how about ilia's chin, I wonder if it will hold up, as he'll be getting hit tons

Topuira took a head kick flush from Jai Herbert, got dropped yet was still able to take Herbert down. He also was in a war against Emmett and ate some punches like they are nothing. I don't think there is a question that Topuira's chin is certainly good.

 

[Rubios]

Nah Topuria Sparks max imo or at the very least stumbles him across the cage. Max is about to fight the Best boxer so far in his life. It isnt all just Punching power. imo The fight gets ugly in the pockets max max gets smoked against the better boxer. not to mention Topuria is strong grappler aswell. honestly Topuria has the attributes of a goat. Imo he also Beats Islam pretty easily. Quote be back when Ilia GOAT makes it look easy

Max has already faced Dustin, a superior pure boxer than Top, and prime Connor, a superior puncher too, IMO.
Not to mention he has fought Volk X3. One could even argue he won the 2nd one.

And Top beating Islam "easily", is that even serious???

 

[Chagaev]

There are moments when Topuria is sacrificing his footing for more punching power, I think that's Max' chance to catch him on a counter.

Volk fought Top methodically and looked technically inferior, but I trust Max to bring more chaos and disrupt his composure- a double-edged sword though.

 

[blaseblase]

It's relevant that Topuria was getting outstruck against Volkanovski before he caught him. Volk is older and had his chin previously cracked by Islam. Even in his prime, he never had the greatest chin. It's highly unlikely that is going to happen to Max, who has a GOAT level chin. So can Topuria outstrike Max for 5 rounds? Seems unlikely.

 

[Rapa]

Seriously. Believing Top, that has developed boxing later in his career (and obviously has put the work, he's crisp) and is still on the "stick to the fundamentals" stage...
...is a better MMA boxer than Max, that enters the Matrix every now and then, is magical thinking.

And believing Top would "KTFO" ANY version of Volk is near delusional.

Looking at fight/fighters like its something magical and thinking oh this dude cant be knocked out oh this dude did kattar that so he cant be beaten oh this dude knocked out stupid bralwer at last second it means he will do same to one of the most skilled fighter mma has ever seen
Dude i am telling u once again u have no idea about real fighting "enters matrix" ? Are u fuckin kidding me? Go watch power rangers

If u know anything about boxing or fighting in general then its really easy to see topuria is levels ahead of max everywhere

 

[Rapa]

How could someone say max is better fighter when on the other side we have ilia who has
1.elite jiu jitsu
2.high level wrestling
3.high level boxing
4.one of the best fight IQ
5.strong chin
6.one punch ko power

And this is against volume puncher who has one of the worst defense in ufc history? Srsly?

 

[Rapa]

I wonder what excuses u will have when he dominates max. let me guess "max had to cut down from 155"

 

[Guy LeDouche]

If Max hasn’t fallen off and has gotten better like he’s been showing g than I think he’s got a great shot at getting the belt back.

I’m looking at the other intangibles for this fight however, such as Max cutting back down to 145 where it’s looking harder for him to do. He’s looking solid at 155.

 

[Rubios]

Looking at fight/fighters like its something magical and thinking oh this dude cant be knocked out oh this dude did kattar that so he cant be beaten oh this dude knocked out stupid bralwer at last second it means he will do same to one of the most skilled fighter mma has ever seen
Dude i am telling u once again u have no idea about real fighting "enters matrix" ? Are u fuckin kidding me? Go watch power rangers

If u know anything about boxing or fighting in general then its really easy to see topuria is levels ahead of max everywhere

Dude, relax. I don't know that much, but enough.
Ilia himself (his boxing trainer, Javi Climent, to be precise. But Topuria was right by his side) says he's NOT the best boxer currently in the UFC. Not yet, at least. He's training his ass off to get there, and his improvement curve is indeed impressive.

In this thread has been said that Top would KTFO any version of Volk (Max #3 one? The Volk from the first fight vs Islam, too?)

And, speaking of Islam, in this thread has also been said that Topuria could beat Islam "easily".

But I'm the one who doesn't know shit.
Ok.

 

[El Fernas]

I can see it happening, i have Holloway winning this actually, his performance against Gaethje should be a good indicator of how he is performing this days, sure at LW but still, and Topuria didnt do all that great (despite winning by KO) at LW against a larger opponent, is Holloway that much bigger? not in the same way, but he is certainly taller and i believe might have the style to beat Topuria from the outside, Topuria beating Volkanovski imo plays very little factor here.

 

[whocares]

This is like the last fight I would ever put money on. There's just so many variables that we won't know the answers to until the fight happens.

 

[Ares Black]

Max Holloway defeats Ilia Topuria

Max Holloway has faced the best of the UFC featherweights and I believe he has the tools to beat Ilia. He has insane striking volume and a legendary chin and Ilia hasn’t really faced a striker like holloway who can barrage him with punches and kicks. As long as Max can avoid the power shots of Ilia he will win by decision based on strikes alone.

I hope you are right.


It's rare that there is such a stark contrast between how cool and likeable the fighters are. Holloway is a beloved legend and Topuria is an obnoxious wanker.

 

[SuperAlly]

This might be a case where MMAth works

Volk beat Max predominantly striking
Topuria beat Volk striking. Banged him out
Topuria x Max = ?

Striking battle won by Ilia?

 

[Rapa]

In this thread has been said that Top would KTFO any version of Volk (Max #3 one? The Volk from the first fight vs Islam, too?)

This volk had adamantium chin or what? Islam droped him once and there was little bit chicken dance too ilia would ko him same way stop believing someone is unbeatable everyone can be knocked out.

People were saying oh look what volk did to yair he will do same to ilia meanwhile yair is good kicker with without wrestling

Volk was droped by chand mendes,max (head kick and uppercut if am not worng) and islam and ilia has better hand and power than all of them he beats any version of volk.

Also u forget something ilias main weapon is grappling and he can ragdoll and sub max anytime (dont tell me ortega is grappler too he has zero wrestling)

 

[Rubios]

This might be a case where MMAth works

Volk beat Max predominantly striking
Topuria beat Volk striking. Banged him out
Topuria x Max = ?

Striking battle won by Ilia?

No plz, I believe we shouldn't be that short-sighted and respect our legends some more.

Volk gave Max a clinic to end the trilogy and was 12-0 in the UFC, then moved up to gave Islam the toughest fight of his career and defended again at 145 beating Yair in dominant fashion.

He was the official #1 P4P, at the very least he could be #2 behind Islam for some (including me).
There was an argument for him being, maybe, the best FW ever.

After one of the heaviest fight schedules I can recall, he was taking some time off and enjoying a beer or three when, abruptly, was too ballsy for his own good to accept a 10 day notice fight against MFing Islam.

He suffered one of the ugliest possible KOs: shin to the dome followed by like ten hammer punches in a hell of a late stoppage.

4 months later, he fights Ilia. UFC, the commission and/or his team shouldn't have allowed him to take that fight.

We can only speculate if the concussion was totally healed, when he was able to start training for Ilia or if he could do some hard sparring at all.

All we know is what we saw. Despite winning the first round, Volk was obviously scared. Not scared of Ilia (though he was) but afraid of fighting.

Let me refine a bit.
Anyone with some hard sparring experience could relate.

He was not scared. (Does Volk even know fear? Lol) His body (his brain?) was.
And didn't allow him to do... barely anything.

He only spammed in&outs, visibly sloppy in the step back because sometimes he wanted to follow with a hook/cross/whatever or set up a good kick.
But his body impeded any further offense and held him back.

Besides avoiding any exchange, very low rate of kicking, too, just for distance management.
That happens when your body is not confident to let you get in positions that could expose you.

And when Ilia was the one throwing and moving forward... man, that was obvious straight panicking. You know the feeling. Your body just doesn't follow you.

No counters, no flanking, no dodging...
Not even boxing backwards.

He just kept going backwards without any head movement, without throwing anything and with no defense awareness at all.

Sure, Top fought very, very, very well. Always stayed composed and stook to the game plan.
His ending combo was a thing of beauty: crisp, accurate, powerful and absurdly fast.
Alex was lucky for falling down soon enough for Ilia to miss that last brutal left.

But the guy he faced was not Volk.

 

[Bork Neslar]

I agree. Max by submission (punches).

 

[Rapa]

But the guy he faced was not Volk

Just like max will not be max when ilia finishes him? Right?

 

[r-harper-1]

Topuria by 3rd round stoppage

 

[Rubios]

Just like max will not be max when ilia finishes him? Right?

I'm not even rooting for Max, FFS!

I get along with people that will be happy if Ilia wins, so I want him to win for them.
That doesn't mean I think he will, we have different opinions on Ilia/Max skills. Fine.

But.

Can we at least agree that he fought a diminished Volk?

I am not a hater, either.
I think Top is obnoxious and next level cringe. I mean, he has a full chest tattoo of his face coming off a tiger and people around him say he is a facepalm fountain.
But, on the other hand, that same people that know him well mostly agree he's a good and nice guy after all.

 

[Danespina]

Great discussion. Enough people high enough on Topuria's boxing that will make that aspect interesting. Wonderful bout.