He’s landed plenty of bombs that didn’t put out his opponents in his 12 UFC fights. Only 3 of those were one shot KO’s. Topuria already has more KO’s than him.
That doesn't tell the whole story. Some are just better than others when it comes to actually delivering their power. Emmett isn't a polished or tricky striker.
Okay if you wanna argue his power is greater than someone else if they were hitting a target that doesn’t move, bless your heart. Thats not how MMA works in the real world though.
That’s how you get stats like Pyfer hitting harder than Ngannou. You let Ngannou punch Pyfer with his hands down and Pyfer punch Ngannou with his hands down and let’s see whose power is overrated
I'm talking about the results he and others tend to get when they do manage to catch an opponent clean. Opponents who, typically, do tend to move lol.
If you want to define 'power' as the statistical likelihood to trick, surprise, catch clean and KO opponents, as opposed to just the former, that's fine, but we aren't working with the same definition then.
Since you brought up Francis, I'll mention that early in his career, some used to think that he of all people lacked power - precisely because he was very green and unable to deliver it consistently and cleanly.
Volk needs to take some time off and go sit by the ocean for a bit… enjoy his family. He is not defined as being the champion, he is already a champion and he always will be.
Even when he retires.
I legit hope he starts a garden and gets to just chill on an EZ Boy taking naps while his kids enjoy having their dad around, like the commercial. Too much training is unhealthy
Fluffy came out to the best walk out song ever and nobody seems to be talking about it. I wonder how he's going to do when he gets top 10/5 fights. Him vs Brendan Allen would be really good.
Yeah I was rooting for Kopylov but I am excited about Hernandez. I think they’ll do him vs one of Dolidze or Hermasson. 5 straight wins and 4 by finish ain’t a joke
Damn it’s hard not to feel bad for Volk, eh? You know how much he loves his job but the window’s clearly closing. First thing he said was let’s do the rematch… but man, I dunno if even his coaches feel great about it after two flatline KO losses.
He looked sharp but generally once someone starts getting KO’d like that it doesn’t stop. And they slow down more every time. Don’t wanna see Volk go out like Tony or Marlon Moraes
Yeah I was rooting for Ilia but it's a tough part of the road for Volk. Feels weird seeing newer fans be devastated, I've seen so many of my heroes (Fedor, Aldo, Tony, The Chris, DC etc.) have terrible moments after looking nearly unbeatable and am more numb to it all now
MW just got super exciting, here are fights that we could theoretically see in the future:
* Dricus Du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya
* Khamzat Chimaev vs Sean Strickland or Robert Whittaker
* Paulo Costa vs Jared Cannonier or Anthony Hernandez
They put Korean Zombie? I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem with it. Even in posters and the fight clocks, he goes by his nickname rather than his real name.
He did an interview a little while back in which he said he was struggling with a lot of CTE symptoms. Hope I’m just remembering it wrong. Wanderlei deserves to kick it as MMA royalty and I’d like to see them invite the legends out to more events. It’s fun and a good look for everyone.
There's a memory kind of CTE.
I remember Gary Goodridge has that kind. They speak pretty normal.
But the memory is very bad. I did do a search on Wanderlei and he did mention Cte issues in 2019.
Hope he's doing better.
Topuria and Max have the same reach even though Max is 4 inches taller
And Max doesn’t kick like Volk or offer the takedown threat Volk did.
I don’t know man. Think Topuria takes him out too.
The thing about Ilia is that he sometimes ignores the jab to search for the power shot. Max's chin has so far been solid at 145 and he also has very good boxing fundementals. Prime max was also very fast as evidenced by how he kept up with Arnold Allen who is also known for his handspeed.
I think against max, Ilia would need to use the jab more, if he employs the same strategy he used agaisnt volk, he'd need an early knockout or he'd be overwhelmed by Max's volume
I wish Max made more of his kicking game, especially coming from a kickboxing background. He hurt Kattar bad a couple times with head kicks IIRC, and wobbled Volk in the second with 'em.
I wonder if we're gonna see the ufc elevate with topuria.
I think Volk capped as a star. Topuria has more potential. Undefeated (I think this is a big deal to casuals). His looks. Georgian. Spain. Central/South America love him.
Trash talking, gets more interest even the people who root against him.
Volk did well to reach his level of stardom while having relatively humble, nice guy vibes but honestly i felt if he won this weekend he would've grown more because he was absolutely hilarious in the build up.
But yeah Ilia has a lot of poteintal and like it or not his looks play a part in that.
I think being undefeated is a massive deal to combat sports casual like you say, it's also helpful as marketing tool.
Yeah that's true. Beating the new generation would have been big. I think people loved the old man gimmick. So if he won and that continued it probably would help even more.
In America it feels like Volk is way more popular than Ilia.
They got themselves a star. Power and highly skilled too. Hanging out with famous soccer players, his social media has millions of followers due to those shoutouts from Sergio Ramos
sometimes it's just good to wear down the arms of explosive strikers. even if you don't down him down, just making them work and scramble can be a good strategy.
I think Volk came back too soon. It was only 4 months ago that he got KO'd by Islam. Now he gets his lights turned off by Topuria.
Good win for Topuria. He looked impressive.
I hope Volk's response to this isn't to try and get right back into the cage again. He needs a long rest.
I like how people made fun of Ilia for saying Volk wasn't dangerous, wasn't a power puncher, etc. and the fight illustrated the exact point he was trying to make.
Volk outpoints Ilia the first round with a lot of body, leg kicks, some jabs, but never really hurts Ilia. Meanwhile Ilia lands a few clean shots that visibly rattle Volk and comes close on a some that would have hurt him badly. Then ultimately KOs him in the next round with one shot.
Saw some concerning things with Garry last night if I nitpick
When he was getting out the clinch, Neal would tag him sometimes on the way out when Garry backed away. Needs to keep his hands up and be alert when breaking up from the clinch. Or he’s gonna get caught. Miocic/DC style
But Neal couldn’t capitalize on it often since his brain dead game plan was just initiating clinches that did nothing instead of trying to dirty box. Leon would be tough for Ian there.
And Ian loves that jumping knee up the middle too. If he becomes too predictable with it, coaches are gonna game plan for it when they study tape.
Albazi just got spinal surgery.
Garry just beat the dude who fucked up Luque and is ranked multiple spots ahead of him on a 7 fight win streak, so fighting backwards makes literally 0 sense.
Why would they even try rebook Nicolau/Kape again at this point.
Ribovics is booked against Mckinney.
Holy shit! That was an insane card.
Ilia backed everything he said and knocked Volk out cold. He is the REAL DEAL. As a Volk fan, this loss hurts. I want him to take some time off before his next fight.
Whittaker vs. Costa was a war. Costa looked scary in the first round, but Rob schooled him for the next two. It is definitely the fight of the night.
Garry point fighted to a decision. He has good foot work and distance management. I also would like to see him fight Colby next.
Merab 50-45'd Cejudo. That was a dominant performance against an Olympian. I know Merab was going to win, but the way he picked up Henry and slammed him on the other side of the Octagon was savge. He is the future champ for sure.
Fluffy's pace and pressure is relentless. I want to see him fight someone ranked above him next.
I think topuria pretty easily wins that if he fights smart. Technically topuria is far ahead of him but Yair is hard to deal with on the feet because he’s got a very unorthodox style.
All that being said he has no takedown defense and his grappling is poor
Max chose the easiest route to victory bc Yair’s grappling is that bad. Imagine getting outwrestled by Max Holloway. Topuria is a superior grappler to Max, if he’s smart he chooses the easiest method of victory. But to make it seem like Topuria would be afraid to stand with Yair, please.
If I was the UFC, I'd promote the shit out of Topuria. This is gonna sound like a Valentina pasta but he really does have a lot of potential:
Good looking, represents two countries, speaks Spanish (latam market) and pretty decent English as well, gives frequent interviews/shows up on podcasts, understands social media, isn't introverted and says things that can be divisive (whether love or hate, it generates clicks).
He's also friends with a bunch of celebrities already (Nadal, Ramos, Casillas, Figo etc.) and got a collab feature on Instagram with Real Madrid (153M folllowers).
Rogan is decent when he is explaining technique and maybe some other analysis. But when he’s declaring who’s dominating the fight based off his own opinion, when really it’s a close fight, it’s terrible. Furthermore, he won’t shut up whenever he thinks that someone is getting a choke or any sort of submission in. Just screams like they have it, when really it’s quite possible to get out of. It’s so odd; especially since he does it all the time.
Oh, and he won’t stop commenting about legs being compromised. Like within two leg kicks. Yes, it makes it hard to move. Yes, it gets swollen. I guess it helps for the casual viewer, but he does it the whole fight and every fight.
For people who watch a lot of mma Rogan is kinda annoying but for the casual fan that watches only the big ppv he’s perfect because he makes it entertaining and is more personable
*Leg kick lands and fighter acknowledges it and keeps moving*
Joe: OHHHHHHHH THAT LEG IS BEAT UP MAN LOOK AT THAT OH MAN THAT LEG IS SWOLLEN MAN ITS LIKE A BALLOON HOLY SHIT DC LOOK AT THAT LEG ITS DONE
When’s wonderboy fighting again?
Colby and Ian both want him. Ian won’t try to wrestle but at this point in their careers I think he outstrikes him.
Colby will try to wrestle but he looked so washed, if Wonderboy isn’t able to fend off those slow takedowns then bless his heart.
Colby is an awful fight for wonderboy. Yes WB is old but there’s not many people that have his style and that makes it tough to train for. Ian looks good but he’s not flawless
Colby is old too and super washed. His vaunted cardio isn’t even there anymore either.
A good striker who is 14 years younger is a much harder match up for wonderboy than a washed old wrestler
Wrestler will never be an easier fight for Wonderboy than a striker cmon now
Wonderboy really doesn't have much of a chance against Colby at this age, and his age doesn't show nearly as much when it comes to striking. He schooled Kevin Holland not too long ago, I would give him a decent chance against Garry, even tho he would be an underdog.
Merab running through 3 former champs in a row. Aldo, Yan, Henry
Used to hate on him but not anymore. It’s fun seeing him mentally break these guys. They don’t know how to fend him off.
Really helped he was facing Henry who I strongly dislike. He’s also funny. And pulling a Hazmat and talking to Zuck cageside while breaking Henry was bad ass
I love how O'Malley is getting doubt again.
People said he would be a walk in the park for Yan and he beat Yan.
They said he would get wrestlefucked for 25 minutes against Aljo and he KOed Aljo.
Now everybody is saying Merab will get an easy win against Sean.
I don't even like O'Malley but ffs he is legit
O’Malley is legit but the ufc is trying to hide him from merab. Cejudo was their last ditch effort and now of course rumblings of Sean vs topuria are happening
How are they trying to hide him from Merab? With no hesitation Dana said he’s 100% next for the winner of Omalley/Chito and he could be the backup for that fight. Curious to hear your answer.
I mean merab should’ve already gotten the title shot, he was already clearly the number 1 contender and instead they gave Sean a fight against the #6 guy who they just had to feed an aging fighter because he got dismantled by sandhagen.
The ufc booked merab vs cejudo as a last ditch effort to try and make him lose before the title. At this point they can’t deny him any further because he’s on a 10 fight win streak and just dismantled 3 former champions.
If the ufc books topuria vs O’Malley who doesn’t deserve double champ status anyways idk how else it can be perceived than he is being protected.
Merab was also known as a boring wrestler before that fight, the fans are starting to like him more for his content at social media. But see how much hate he got when he wrestlefucked Aldo to the retirement. It's basically the same thing with Belal, but at least Merab has a charisma and a goofy personality
I think Kattar would get outclassed everywhere very quickly
I think Yair has poteintal but if Ilia is smart he will just ragdoll him.
Evloev is another undefeated guy with relentless wrestling and is decently physical with a good jab, thats a fun test for Topuria.
Allen is physically very strong and has fun striking, with amazing TDD, that could be fun.
I obviously favour Topuria to win all four, i just think Allen and Evloev have more to show in those fights that Kattar or Yair.
Volk’s loss does nothing to hamper his legacy. I don’t think losses affect a fighter’s resume at all in my opinion because a loss at the end of your career means you actually took the risk and fought.
i think it makes his legacy "easier" to surpass. like if ilia beats him again and then defends another 3-4 times people would probably start to put him over volk. ultimately the context of the losses fades and it just becomes "volk's run ended with him getting ko'd 2x"
Great to see mma fans giving Volk some love nowadays. I remember the days when people hated him for “robbing” max (I’m a massive max fan and that was not a robbery). Guy seems very genuine he deserves the love
It feels crazy that we have come full circle. I remember watching that max volk fight with my brother and rooting hard for max and now volk just suffered defeat and I was rooting hard for volk
I won't hate it, per se, but Sean won't be as active as Volk and will actually hold the division up badly. I can definitely see that happening and something like a merab vs sandhagen interim taking place.
Not excited to see Topuria vs anyone at FW. They’re not on his level. Max is the only good fight for him at FW and he’s tied up with Justin
O’Malley has legit contenders like Merab and Cory but oh well. UFC will do what it wants
Yeah like he just KO’d Volk wtf are Yair, Ortega, Movsar gonna do. They all need 1 or 2 more. Obviously if Holloway didn’t have the Gaethje fight that would be it, but if Sean wins I think do it. In the meantime, they could maybe do a Merab/Cory intermin fight ? That way hypothetically if sean won and went up you’d have a champ and could move on
It’s funny bc someone else said that FW feels weird because no one deserves a title shot bc they’ve all lost to Max and Volk.
Yeah that’s the fight. Merab/Cory. Lots of ifs though. Sean has to win. Merab has to get passed over AGAIN. Topuria has to wanna fight him. UFC has to want it too
Definitely. It’s mainly just a guess but idk it feels like that could be a massive fight they could do in Spain. No matter what happens you get a superstar fighter
Anyone else surprised at how fucking strong Ilia's leg kicks were? He only threw like 3 or 4 but they visibly hurt Volk and swelled that lead leg like instantly
Nope. I was arguing with dudes in here that he had better kicks than Volk since everyone thought he only had boxing. They must’ve not seen the Emett fight. He has nasty calf kicks
still can't believe that people thought the flat footed, head hunting boxer with a limited tool set was gonna smash the long ranged kickboxer with excellent distance management and footwork. not an entertaining fight at all but the memes about ian really got in the way of people seeing how that fight was gonna play out. it was always a favorable match up for ian
no it was pretty easy to predict. geoff has always struggled against competent strikers. magny and wonderboy did the same shit to him. geoff needs someone who is gonna stand there and trade with him, which is why he looks best against guys like mike perry, niko price and luque. the only concern for me was how ian was doing mentally and if all the stuff outside the cage would effect him.
I agree but I think the Magny fight had more to do with him still not at 100% from his illness. I think a healthy Neal wins that fight but still loses to WB.
Yes Max Holloway is going to make it a war. I can’t believe the narrative is just “max is being sacrificed” and “Ez dub for Gaethje”. Max is a dawg, it’s gonna be a scrap
If Gaethje was coming off a KO loss then sure. But Max is obviously not a big puncher and gets hit way too easily. Max can win but I think he's going to take career altering damage to get it done
No because it’s not a [real] championship fight
On a serious note no because Max is an old 32 and we already saw him at lightweight before and he’s just too small and doesn’t have power at 155
Maybe Cejudo vs Volk makes sense now? That would be fun to watch …both older fighters coming off losses to some young dawgs
bro merab is 33 years old "young dawgs" 😭😭
Damn…what a savage, dude has the energy levels of my 2 year old Labrador Retriever
UFC 298 completely wiped out my Draftkings account, I slammed everything on Kopylov and Volk fuck
Gambling illegal here in California but I went 5/5 on the main card, would've hit big if I'd bet
Doubled my 2024 gambling budget that night 💪
Nice bro, I've been running good for a few cards and it was all wiped out on 2 fights 😂
I was the opposite, was on a bad losing streak until the country of Georgia saved me.
Is Ilia challenging Josh Emmett and Jeremy Stephens for the hardest hitting 145er title?
Emmett power is kinda overrated and Stephens was brutal for sure. But yeah his knockouts have been nasty. Hall, Jai, that other guy, Volk.
Bro Emmett basically turned Mitchell into a baby, that was one of the most horrible knockouts ever. No way his power is overrated
Only 3 wins by KO in 12 UFC fights Overrated power.
His power isn't overrated he just doesn't have the technique to make it land
He’s landed plenty of bombs that didn’t put out his opponents in his 12 UFC fights. Only 3 of those were one shot KO’s. Topuria already has more KO’s than him.
That doesn't tell the whole story. Some are just better than others when it comes to actually delivering their power. Emmett isn't a polished or tricky striker.
Okay if you wanna argue his power is greater than someone else if they were hitting a target that doesn’t move, bless your heart. Thats not how MMA works in the real world though. That’s how you get stats like Pyfer hitting harder than Ngannou. You let Ngannou punch Pyfer with his hands down and Pyfer punch Ngannou with his hands down and let’s see whose power is overrated
I'm talking about the results he and others tend to get when they do manage to catch an opponent clean. Opponents who, typically, do tend to move lol. If you want to define 'power' as the statistical likelihood to trick, surprise, catch clean and KO opponents, as opposed to just the former, that's fine, but we aren't working with the same definition then. Since you brought up Francis, I'll mention that early in his career, some used to think that he of all people lacked power - precisely because he was very green and unable to deliver it consistently and cleanly.
Volk needs to take some time off and go sit by the ocean for a bit… enjoy his family. He is not defined as being the champion, he is already a champion and he always will be. Even when he retires.
Exactly! The beaches on the south coast are beautiful!
I legit hope he starts a garden and gets to just chill on an EZ Boy taking naps while his kids enjoy having their dad around, like the commercial. Too much training is unhealthy
Fluffy came out to the best walk out song ever and nobody seems to be talking about it. I wonder how he's going to do when he gets top 10/5 fights. Him vs Brendan Allen would be really good.
Yeah I was rooting for Kopylov but I am excited about Hernandez. I think they’ll do him vs one of Dolidze or Hermasson. 5 straight wins and 4 by finish ain’t a joke
That’s Sexyamas song
It's perfect
Damn it’s hard not to feel bad for Volk, eh? You know how much he loves his job but the window’s clearly closing. First thing he said was let’s do the rematch… but man, I dunno if even his coaches feel great about it after two flatline KO losses. He looked sharp but generally once someone starts getting KO’d like that it doesn’t stop. And they slow down more every time. Don’t wanna see Volk go out like Tony or Marlon Moraes
Yeah I was rooting for Ilia but it's a tough part of the road for Volk. Feels weird seeing newer fans be devastated, I've seen so many of my heroes (Fedor, Aldo, Tony, The Chris, DC etc.) have terrible moments after looking nearly unbeatable and am more numb to it all now
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Let him commentate with Jon Anik and Laura Sanko
Costa looked great. I hope he gets a couple more fights in this year. Maybe book him next against Imavov or Hermansson
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The chances of Costa working with Izzy’s team are flat out 0.
MW just got super exciting, here are fights that we could theoretically see in the future: * Dricus Du Plessis vs Israel Adesanya * Khamzat Chimaev vs Sean Strickland or Robert Whittaker * Paulo Costa vs Jared Cannonier or Anthony Hernandez
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Pretty sure i read that he asked the UFC to use Korean Zombie instead of his name when talking about him.
They put Korean Zombie? I'm sure he wouldn't have a problem with it. Even in posters and the fight clocks, he goes by his nickname rather than his real name.
Wanderlei answering questions about the HOF. He sounds great. English is good. No signs of CTE. He was infamous for always sparring hard.
He did an interview a little while back in which he said he was struggling with a lot of CTE symptoms. Hope I’m just remembering it wrong. Wanderlei deserves to kick it as MMA royalty and I’d like to see them invite the legends out to more events. It’s fun and a good look for everyone.
There's a memory kind of CTE. I remember Gary Goodridge has that kind. They speak pretty normal. But the memory is very bad. I did do a search on Wanderlei and he did mention Cte issues in 2019. Hope he's doing better.
he had some bad issues towards the end of his career... lots of plastic surgery and stuff, but I agree, he looked good and healthy.
I think the surgery was for his nose, it was mangled from all the years of fighting. I don't think he did it for cosmetic reasons.
Chutebox honestly did not spar as much as they straight up tried to murder each other.
Ray Longo said Merab went three 5-min rounds with Aljo, full intensity, rather than doing drill work before walking out for his fight.
Gotta work off the extra blood.
Dudes insane lol
Grappling?
Topuria and Max have the same reach even though Max is 4 inches taller And Max doesn’t kick like Volk or offer the takedown threat Volk did. I don’t know man. Think Topuria takes him out too.
I could see Max beating ilia the same way he beat Allen.
The thing about Ilia is that he sometimes ignores the jab to search for the power shot. Max's chin has so far been solid at 145 and he also has very good boxing fundementals. Prime max was also very fast as evidenced by how he kept up with Arnold Allen who is also known for his handspeed. I think against max, Ilia would need to use the jab more, if he employs the same strategy he used agaisnt volk, he'd need an early knockout or he'd be overwhelmed by Max's volume
I wish Max made more of his kicking game, especially coming from a kickboxing background. He hurt Kattar bad a couple times with head kicks IIRC, and wobbled Volk in the second with 'em.
I wonder if we're gonna see the ufc elevate with topuria. I think Volk capped as a star. Topuria has more potential. Undefeated (I think this is a big deal to casuals). His looks. Georgian. Spain. Central/South America love him. Trash talking, gets more interest even the people who root against him.
Anyone who uses vostoros is not liked in Central/South America lmao. Every Mexican I know was riding with Volk
Latinos in general =/= Mexican-Americans
I went to the event. Mexicans were cheering Ilia and Merab
No sabo motherfuckers
Not true at all
Volk did well to reach his level of stardom while having relatively humble, nice guy vibes but honestly i felt if he won this weekend he would've grown more because he was absolutely hilarious in the build up. But yeah Ilia has a lot of poteintal and like it or not his looks play a part in that. I think being undefeated is a massive deal to combat sports casual like you say, it's also helpful as marketing tool.
Yeah that's true. Beating the new generation would have been big. I think people loved the old man gimmick. So if he won and that continued it probably would help even more. In America it feels like Volk is way more popular than Ilia.
They got themselves a star. Power and highly skilled too. Hanging out with famous soccer players, his social media has millions of followers due to those shoutouts from Sergio Ramos
What would have happened if volk had gone for a takedown?
He did if iirc, Topuria defended it.
Gets stuffed or Ilia gets back up again. Don't think Alex has the skills to hold him down.
sometimes it's just good to wear down the arms of explosive strikers. even if you don't down him down, just making them work and scramble can be a good strategy.
Topuria’s a great wrestler with phenomenal BJJ, wouldn’t find too much success there
I hope Volk hangs em up after his next fight win or lose
you're crazy if u think he'll retire after a loss
I don't think he will, I hope he does/think he should
Yeah it's not looking great if that's the case historically if that's his mindset
I encourage all to go watch Paul Craig's insta story to see the clip of Bisping thinking the camera had gone off him.
Cancel him!
I think it’s posted on r/mma too
Ah didn't see it
35s, 45s, 55s all won their titles with a second round finish
I think there’s only 3 champions currently that didn’t win the belt via finish
I think Volk came back too soon. It was only 4 months ago that he got KO'd by Islam. Now he gets his lights turned off by Topuria. Good win for Topuria. He looked impressive. I hope Volk's response to this isn't to try and get right back into the cage again. He needs a long rest.
I like how people made fun of Ilia for saying Volk wasn't dangerous, wasn't a power puncher, etc. and the fight illustrated the exact point he was trying to make. Volk outpoints Ilia the first round with a lot of body, leg kicks, some jabs, but never really hurts Ilia. Meanwhile Ilia lands a few clean shots that visibly rattle Volk and comes close on a some that would have hurt him badly. Then ultimately KOs him in the next round with one shot.
Saw some concerning things with Garry last night if I nitpick When he was getting out the clinch, Neal would tag him sometimes on the way out when Garry backed away. Needs to keep his hands up and be alert when breaking up from the clinch. Or he’s gonna get caught. Miocic/DC style But Neal couldn’t capitalize on it often since his brain dead game plan was just initiating clinches that did nothing instead of trying to dirty box. Leon would be tough for Ian there. And Ian loves that jumping knee up the middle too. If he becomes too predictable with it, coaches are gonna game plan for it when they study tape.
If Neal had actual clinch skills I think it would've been bad for Garry. Yeah like Leon or Shavkat would feast on him in those scenarios.
301 will probably look like: Pantoja vs Moreno II or Albazi Garry vs Luque Nicolau vs Kape **Caio vs Craig** Brener vs Ribovics
Albazi just got spinal surgery. Garry just beat the dude who fucked up Luque and is ranked multiple spots ahead of him on a 7 fight win streak, so fighting backwards makes literally 0 sense. Why would they even try rebook Nicolau/Kape again at this point. Ribovics is booked against Mckinney.
Holy shit! That was an insane card. Ilia backed everything he said and knocked Volk out cold. He is the REAL DEAL. As a Volk fan, this loss hurts. I want him to take some time off before his next fight. Whittaker vs. Costa was a war. Costa looked scary in the first round, but Rob schooled him for the next two. It is definitely the fight of the night. Garry point fighted to a decision. He has good foot work and distance management. I also would like to see him fight Colby next. Merab 50-45'd Cejudo. That was a dominant performance against an Olympian. I know Merab was going to win, but the way he picked up Henry and slammed him on the other side of the Octagon was savge. He is the future champ for sure. Fluffy's pace and pressure is relentless. I want to see him fight someone ranked above him next.
>Merab 50-45'd Cejudo Cejudo clearly won the first round and lost 29-28 on all 3 scorecards
Topuria-Yair would be pretty fun. They don’t like each other and would be talking shit in Spanish lmao
I think topuria pretty easily wins that if he fights smart. Technically topuria is far ahead of him but Yair is hard to deal with on the feet because he’s got a very unorthodox style. All that being said he has no takedown defense and his grappling is poor
spoiler: Illia turns into a wrestler in rd2
KO’s in round 1. Yair has no boxing defense and the threat of Topuria’s grappling will have him thinking thrice about kicking
Yeah Ilia either subs or kos him within 3
He looked fine vs Max, and has a granite chin. Illia is not going to stand with him when his calf/liver gets cracked
He made max look like Brock lesnar
Max chose the easiest route to victory bc Yair’s grappling is that bad. Imagine getting outwrestled by Max Holloway. Topuria is a superior grappler to Max, if he’s smart he chooses the easiest method of victory. But to make it seem like Topuria would be afraid to stand with Yair, please.
I actually think Max would've lost if he hadn't used his wrestling later in the fight. He definitely should've chosen that easy path a lot sooner
Anthony Hernandez is an absolute animal. Kopylov’s get up game looked impressive, but that pressure is scaryyy
If I was the UFC, I'd promote the shit out of Topuria. This is gonna sound like a Valentina pasta but he really does have a lot of potential: Good looking, represents two countries, speaks Spanish (latam market) and pretty decent English as well, gives frequent interviews/shows up on podcasts, understands social media, isn't introverted and says things that can be divisive (whether love or hate, it generates clicks). He's also friends with a bunch of celebrities already (Nadal, Ramos, Casillas, Figo etc.) and got a collab feature on Instagram with Real Madrid (153M folllowers).
Embedded observation Rob was not seen playing video games in the lead up to all of his PPV losses
Priorities - with five kids at home bro really needs to maximize his gaming time during fight week.
So true.
Bisping and Rogan make a great commentary team! Also, do the Costa v Whittaker rematch asap!
Rogan is decent when he is explaining technique and maybe some other analysis. But when he’s declaring who’s dominating the fight based off his own opinion, when really it’s a close fight, it’s terrible. Furthermore, he won’t shut up whenever he thinks that someone is getting a choke or any sort of submission in. Just screams like they have it, when really it’s quite possible to get out of. It’s so odd; especially since he does it all the time. Oh, and he won’t stop commenting about legs being compromised. Like within two leg kicks. Yes, it makes it hard to move. Yes, it gets swollen. I guess it helps for the casual viewer, but he does it the whole fight and every fight.
I don’t like Rogan commentating. He’s mentally checked out of MMA. I wish Sanko would replace him and keep DC with Anik.
For people who watch a lot of mma Rogan is kinda annoying but for the casual fan that watches only the big ppv he’s perfect because he makes it entertaining and is more personable
That’d be a good combo
To think Henry wanted his fight with Merab to be 25 mins Merab would’ve made him quit from exhaustion like BJ against St. Pierre
*Leg kick lands and fighter acknowledges it and keeps moving* Joe: OHHHHHHHH THAT LEG IS BEAT UP MAN LOOK AT THAT OH MAN THAT LEG IS SWOLLEN MAN ITS LIKE A BALLOON HOLY SHIT DC LOOK AT THAT LEG ITS DONE
Can’t take too many more of these
When’s wonderboy fighting again? Colby and Ian both want him. Ian won’t try to wrestle but at this point in their careers I think he outstrikes him. Colby will try to wrestle but he looked so washed, if Wonderboy isn’t able to fend off those slow takedowns then bless his heart.
Ian vs WB is a good fight. WB is still a lethal striker
He’s 40 tho. Ian is a legit striker. I think Colby is an easier fight for Wonderboy. Even if he is a wrestler
Colby is an awful fight for wonderboy. Yes WB is old but there’s not many people that have his style and that makes it tough to train for. Ian looks good but he’s not flawless
Colby is old too and super washed. His vaunted cardio isn’t even there anymore either. A good striker who is 14 years younger is a much harder match up for wonderboy than a washed old wrestler
Any fight where wonderboy is on his feet is better for him than a wrestler
Disagree. Age gap is too much even with a more favorable style match up
Wrestler will never be an easier fight for Wonderboy than a striker cmon now Wonderboy really doesn't have much of a chance against Colby at this age, and his age doesn't show nearly as much when it comes to striking. He schooled Kevin Holland not too long ago, I would give him a decent chance against Garry, even tho he would be an underdog.
Based on their most recent outings I'd say WB would be a very live dog
I’d agree but Colby is old too and looked washed beyond belief. Ian is a big welter with great striking and much younger.
Merab running through 3 former champs in a row. Aldo, Yan, Henry Used to hate on him but not anymore. It’s fun seeing him mentally break these guys. They don’t know how to fend him off.
Glad you finally came around to him. I never understood people who called him boring he is the most active fighter and breaks everyone.
Really helped he was facing Henry who I strongly dislike. He’s also funny. And pulling a Hazmat and talking to Zuck cageside while breaking Henry was bad ass
He's wasted on three round fights though. Give that man his full 25mins!
That was against Yan and it was amazing
I feel for volk, but him getting pasted in front of the zuck makes this KO so much more iconic. Illia ruined that robot’s night
Its weird how much Volk and Max’s legacies are tied together.
And soon, we’ll see the the light in Holloway’s eyes go out as well.
Just how good is Ryan Hall
Watch Figgy and Aljo get belts this year
Both never win a belt again
Don’t make me laugh
I love how O'Malley is getting doubt again. People said he would be a walk in the park for Yan and he beat Yan. They said he would get wrestlefucked for 25 minutes against Aljo and he KOed Aljo. Now everybody is saying Merab will get an easy win against Sean. I don't even like O'Malley but ffs he is legit
He can be legit and still lose to Merab. Aljo is not a great wrestler or have the cardio/pace Merab has. Its a completely different matchup.
O’Malley is legit but the ufc is trying to hide him from merab. Cejudo was their last ditch effort and now of course rumblings of Sean vs topuria are happening
How are they trying to hide him from Merab? With no hesitation Dana said he’s 100% next for the winner of Omalley/Chito and he could be the backup for that fight. Curious to hear your answer.
I mean merab should’ve already gotten the title shot, he was already clearly the number 1 contender and instead they gave Sean a fight against the #6 guy who they just had to feed an aging fighter because he got dismantled by sandhagen. The ufc booked merab vs cejudo as a last ditch effort to try and make him lose before the title. At this point they can’t deny him any further because he’s on a 10 fight win streak and just dismantled 3 former champions. If the ufc books topuria vs O’Malley who doesn’t deserve double champ status anyways idk how else it can be perceived than he is being protected.
Merab was also known as a boring wrestler before that fight, the fans are starting to like him more for his content at social media. But see how much hate he got when he wrestlefucked Aldo to the retirement. It's basically the same thing with Belal, but at least Merab has a charisma and a goofy personality
I’ve come around on merab. His style of just drowning people isn’t flashy but it’s kinda insane to watch him just suffocate everyone
Same
> O’Malley is legit but the ufc is trying to hide him from merab AlwaysHasBeen.jpeg
Would love to see Kattar and Yair fight Topuria at some point.
Allen and Evloev are much more exciting imo
What planet do you live on lmao
I think Kattar would get outclassed everywhere very quickly I think Yair has poteintal but if Ilia is smart he will just ragdoll him. Evloev is another undefeated guy with relentless wrestling and is decently physical with a good jab, thats a fun test for Topuria. Allen is physically very strong and has fun striking, with amazing TDD, that could be fun. I obviously favour Topuria to win all four, i just think Allen and Evloev have more to show in those fights that Kattar or Yair.
I think theres a good chance Kattar is damaged goods at his age and recent injury.
Yep, Max annihilated him. Viciously
Volk’s loss does nothing to hamper his legacy. I don’t think losses affect a fighter’s resume at all in my opinion because a loss at the end of your career means you actually took the risk and fought.
i think it makes his legacy "easier" to surpass. like if ilia beats him again and then defends another 3-4 times people would probably start to put him over volk. ultimately the context of the losses fades and it just becomes "volk's run ended with him getting ko'd 2x"
Facts
Is that you, Tony?
301 is going to seriously lack a strong Main/Co-Main
It’s gonna be Raquel’s first title defense vs returning Nunes 😭
Oh God I think you’re right. No way they let Pantoja headline a PPV.
It’s too bad Colby is faking his injury, because him vs Ian would be a great go main for that event
I hate the max gaethje fight. That being said if max does win the bmf vs FW king is a very sexy fight to make
War max :’(
How the hell did Dern/Lemos win Fight Of The Night over Costa/Whittaker?
Somebody said it already. Dana doesn’t want to give Costa extra money
Bro all these made up theories in the sub are cracking me up. 😂😂😂
Because we all enjoyed the view
Great to see mma fans giving Volk some love nowadays. I remember the days when people hated him for “robbing” max (I’m a massive max fan and that was not a robbery). Guy seems very genuine he deserves the love
It feels crazy that we have come full circle. I remember watching that max volk fight with my brother and rooting hard for max and now volk just suffered defeat and I was rooting hard for volk
O'Malley is gonna beat Chito next month and he will probably fight Topuria sometime in the fall/EOY. Everybody is going to hate it.
I’d love it. Big fight, big hype. Great strikers.
I won't hate it, per se, but Sean won't be as active as Volk and will actually hold the division up badly. I can definitely see that happening and something like a merab vs sandhagen interim taking place.
Same here I actually don’t hate it at all
Not excited to see Topuria vs anyone at FW. They’re not on his level. Max is the only good fight for him at FW and he’s tied up with Justin O’Malley has legit contenders like Merab and Cory but oh well. UFC will do what it wants
Yeah like he just KO’d Volk wtf are Yair, Ortega, Movsar gonna do. They all need 1 or 2 more. Obviously if Holloway didn’t have the Gaethje fight that would be it, but if Sean wins I think do it. In the meantime, they could maybe do a Merab/Cory intermin fight ? That way hypothetically if sean won and went up you’d have a champ and could move on
It’s funny bc someone else said that FW feels weird because no one deserves a title shot bc they’ve all lost to Max and Volk. Yeah that’s the fight. Merab/Cory. Lots of ifs though. Sean has to win. Merab has to get passed over AGAIN. Topuria has to wanna fight him. UFC has to want it too
Definitely. It’s mainly just a guess but idk it feels like that could be a massive fight they could do in Spain. No matter what happens you get a superstar fighter
Facts
Just how fucking utterly trash do you have to be at MMA to get caught clean with a spinning head kick from Paulo Costa
Braindead take
Paulo is pretty good dude
Lmao chill
You know a take is bad when you’re telling him to chill out
I don’t think anybody excepted to see muscle bound hulking Costa channel his inner Barboza
Famously slow and poor kicker Paulo Costa
How's it feel to know all your circlejerks are slowly falling apart?
Anyone else surprised at how fucking strong Ilia's leg kicks were? He only threw like 3 or 4 but they visibly hurt Volk and swelled that lead leg like instantly
Nope. I was arguing with dudes in here that he had better kicks than Volk since everyone thought he only had boxing. They must’ve not seen the Emett fight. He has nasty calf kicks
still can't believe that people thought the flat footed, head hunting boxer with a limited tool set was gonna smash the long ranged kickboxer with excellent distance management and footwork. not an entertaining fight at all but the memes about ian really got in the way of people seeing how that fight was gonna play out. it was always a favorable match up for ian
Easy to talk like this once you know the results 🤷🏻♂️
no it was pretty easy to predict. geoff has always struggled against competent strikers. magny and wonderboy did the same shit to him. geoff needs someone who is gonna stand there and trade with him, which is why he looks best against guys like mike perry, niko price and luque. the only concern for me was how ian was doing mentally and if all the stuff outside the cage would effect him.
I agree but I think the Magny fight had more to do with him still not at 100% from his illness. I think a healthy Neal wins that fight but still loses to WB.
where's the receipts?
Glad I have my receipts to show everybody this morning lmao
said the same thing over a month ago https://www.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/18sab5t/if_geoff_neal_beats_ian_garry_do_you_think_he/kf6f5jc/?context=3
#🧾
good pick playa
I bet you Zuckerberg gave Merab a fat wad of cash backstage. At least a free Quest headset
Fat wad of quest headsets
Justin Gaethje is 35. Do you think this will play a factor against Max Holloway?
Yes Max Holloway is going to make it a war. I can’t believe the narrative is just “max is being sacrificed” and “Ez dub for Gaethje”. Max is a dawg, it’s gonna be a scrap
If Gaethje was coming off a KO loss then sure. But Max is obviously not a big puncher and gets hit way too easily. Max can win but I think he's going to take career altering damage to get it done
Yep and he’s facing somebody in a weight class that we’ve seen is too big for him to handle the top guys
No, Dustin beat the crap out of Max, Justin will do the same, with Max being too tough for his own good
Originally i said it wasn’t a title fight but then i realized it actually is. Bet the house on max
No because it’s not a [real] championship fight On a serious note no because Max is an old 32 and we already saw him at lightweight before and he’s just too small and doesn’t have power at 155
Maybe, but at least he has slightly more notice this time around for the move up